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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that closing all our local libraries and expecting volunteers to take over and fund them is a rubbish 'big idea'??

173 replies

snail1973 · 02/12/2010 19:24

Bucks CC are proposing (well it is out for consultation but we all know what that means - it's a done deal) to close 14 libraries (out of 21). They are asking the local communities if they want to take them over.

I am really cross about this. Libraries are so vital for families with young children and the elderly. Just handing them over to the community and saying "there you go, you find the money and the volunteers to run them" is doomed to failure and so yet again the kids and the old will loose vital services.

And don't even get me started on SureStart (also gone in our area).

Are libraries being closed elsewhere in the country too?

OP posts:
Takver · 03/12/2010 19:03

Sorry, X-post. I do have short spiky hair & big boots, if that helps Grin

spidookly · 03/12/2010 19:07

:o

And thank you for the recommendation. I'm off to Google it now.

ISNT · 03/12/2010 19:24

This is so depressing. Libraries are an excellent resource, i used them when I was at school, and then not for ages until I had my first DD. Then I realised that it's where all the community information is, loads of stuff goes on there, now DD1 is 3 I take her and she loves checking the books in and out. And of course having books which change every week or 2.

People who say books are cheap just buy them - board books and pop-up books are really expensive and no-one in their right mind is going to buy 10 or 12 or however many a month. Remove the libraries and you are taking an awful lot away from young children.

But guess what - young children don't vote, so like all of the other cuts, it doesn't matter if young children are the ones who are stuffed.

Tell you what, how about we sell off the contents of the British Library and sell the building as well - that should give enough money to keep all the rest of the libraries in the country going for a good few years.

Or - I know - why not let the houses of parliament out for a few years? That would bring in a huge amount of dosh. Parliament could meet in a community centre in watford or somewhere - maybe a large library? Sorted.

huddspur · 03/12/2010 19:27

I think its a shame if libraries close, they were invaluable to me when I was at school. I would hope that councils look at other areas to make cuts

ivykaty44 · 03/12/2010 20:36

darlene - you are reading books that are well under £100 then, go into t alibrary and price up there reference books and you may find that on amazon they are well over £70 if avaialbe at all to buy

if perhaps that is a cheap buy to you, then you are out of touch with books that can be found in most libraries.

in the 18th c libraries where not local or goverment owned they where private reading libraires on the whole and not community places

edam · 03/12/2010 22:39

The 18th century was a pretty shit time to live for everyone except wealthy men. I don't see why anyone would want to go back there. Unless you think your child would look cute as a chimneysweep...

Biscuitscoco · 03/12/2010 23:49

Depressing ignorance from some people about professional librarians and what they do. They need a degree and postgraduate qualification for a reason.

You can't do any kind of serious research without a library and freely accessible public libraries are the mark of a cultured society.

Well let's just encourage some bored housewives to run the libraries voluntarily shall we? See how long they last. I feel sorry for you. You are too ignorant to appreciate what is being taken from you.

harpsichordcarrier · 03/12/2010 23:53

County libraries:
1881-2010
RIP

tundra · 04/12/2010 00:02

Everyone needs to lobby their local councils to persuade them to keep libraries open. Surely they can cut other things instead

maktaitai · 04/12/2010 08:56

Yes but what tundra?

I hate the idea of libraries going into voluntary control but what is the alternative? £100 rise in council tax? No social services teams?

I would love our council to, for example, cease all full-colour publications Angry but realistically that would save about £50K.

Iwasthefourthwiseman · 04/12/2010 09:25

Can we make this into a Mnet campaign? I know this is all local authority but is there a minister we can get on for a web chat?

Iwasthefourthwiseman · 04/12/2010 09:30

As regards to money, as I understand it the local authority have cut the library budget by 40% but libraries make up 1% of their total budget. So they are decimating the resources of communities for a measly half a per cent.

HappyMummyOfOne · 04/12/2010 10:03

I agree with Darlene, libraries are not used in the way they were used years ago due to the changes in technology, prices etc.

Given they are free, then the way forward has to be either run by volunteers with maybe one or two head staff being paid or charging for the service per book hire etc. The country has millions of people on benefits, SAHP's and pensioners so those who truly see them as being a great service can ensure they continue by turning them into volunteer led places.

Far better to see libraries closed than to lose vital services. All children have access to books via school, most will have books at home and they can be bought very cheaply indeed anyway. Homework can be done at home with parents or at school clubs and computers are in most homes now anyway.

ISNT · 04/12/2010 10:24

How on earth are SAHPs supposed to run libraries when they have babies and toddlers hanging off them? I can't do anything sensible when I am at home with my two.

I am starting to sense a certain familiar gleeful tone on this thread of "ha! you stupid greedy people who like public services got us into this mess and so no we're going to close everything that we can think of and you'll never get it back hahahahaha". What is this balls of "there is no choice"??? Of course there is a choice. And why do the actions of the bankers keep getting overlooked in this mess that we are in?

People are rubbing their hands as again something is being removed that mainly benefits children, and it makes me feel quite queasy.
What is all this shit about buying loads of books? Do people not understand how much books for young children cost?

ISNT · 04/12/2010 10:25

Basically happymummyofone you assume that all children have some money behind them and a stable homelife. You are either unaware that millions of children in the UK are not in that position, or you just don't care.

Iwasthefourthwiseman · 04/12/2010 10:35

Libraries aren't free, we pay for them out of our taxes.

You have to think of the eco benefit to libraries too - libraries are the ultimate in re-use/recycle.

huddspur · 04/12/2010 10:39

Libraries were vital to me when I was growing up, I'd stop off in the local one on my way home from school to do my homework. Don't underestimate their usefulness to children and adults from poorer backgrounds.

ISNT · 04/12/2010 10:48

The free internet resource is vital to people without much money applying for work. In our area they have special people there to assist people with job applications and so on.

Are people unaware that gasp there are many people in the UK without internet access at home? Our libraries have a lot of jobseekers using that facility.

HappyMummyOfOne · 04/12/2010 10:50

Isnt, all children have access to a school and education regardless of whether their parents earn or not so money/stable home life has no effect on this. Therefore all children have access to books be it reading books, library books, topic books etc.

Yes some parents will buy books and some wont but that doesnt equal those that dont using the library anyway.

ISNT · 04/12/2010 11:16

My children do not have access to school. They are under 5.

And why don't you try "some parents can buy books and some can't" - board books are about £8 a pop, that is what babies and toddlers look at. It is recognised that children who can access books from when they are tiny will do better later on at school etc. That is why they started "Bookstart". Our library is full of pre-schoolers.

What do you plan to do about free internet access? or is it a case of "if you can't afford it then tough" there as well?

ISNT · 04/12/2010 11:19

Your view that all children = school age is a bit odd TBH. Do you ever go to your local library? A good wedge of the stuff that goes on at ours is for pre-schoolers.

I don't have children at school yet so can't comment about school libraries - do they all have reference sections as extensive as a main local library?

ISNT · 04/12/2010 11:20

Anyone who argues "but books are cheap so close the libraries" has more money than sense and a shocking lack of social responsibility and empathy for others IMO.

huddspur · 04/12/2010 11:21

ISNT- to be fair my parents wouldn't have bought me or my siblings books even if they could have afford them.

Happy- Children may only have limited access to books at school and if they can go to a library and borrow books that supplement their learning this is surely highly beneficial.

HappyMummyOfOne · 04/12/2010 11:25

The government provide 2.5 hours a day preschool education from age 3 so its only the toddler years not covered. Board books are not £8 each unless you buy brand new top range, charity shops, supermarkets etc have them far cheaper.

As for free internet, yes people should pay for it if they want it. We've become a nation that expects everything to be handed to us on a plate and heavens forbid we have to work and pay for things ourselves.

Poverty is relative, some choose not to work, others work the bare minimum and others spend money on other things rather than books etc. All children currently get child benefit and millions get child tax credits - money that is designed to be spent on the children so buying the odd book is not out of anyones reach.

ISNT · 04/12/2010 11:29

It just makes me so angry.

So much for dave's big society - he is dismantling the whole thing. Maggie said there's no such thing as society - Dave says who needs communities. Makes me want to punch something.

I bet they won't be closing the members only, publicly funded, huge and extensive library in the house of commons will they.