Potential library closures

[BookwormSW11]

Wandsworth council are consulting on where to make cuts to the library service. A decision will be taken in February.

There are still - essentially - two options being proposed (you can read all the detail on the council website).

1. Close 6 neighbourhood libraries across the borough (York Gardens, Northcote, Battersea Park, Earlsfield, Roehampton, Southfields)
2. Close York Gardens Library only and reduce the opening hours at all the remaining 10 libraries in the borough.

York Gardens Library is on the north edge of the Winstanley Estate (north of Clapham Junction) and serves a particularly deprived area of our community.

On the face of it, option 2 looks like the better option for everyone and it would appear that the council are relying on this for the consultation that is about to start. However, the council could have chosen to suggest other alternatives which do not rely on the closure of a library in an area where there are few other community facilities and which offers children who in many cases do not have books/computers at home a safe place to access these, to do schoolwork etc, and a place for adults to learn, seek for jobs and get other social support.

Both options that will be consulted on mean that this really important facility will be closed. Option 1 is of course also dreadful (and the council are relying on the fact that this option will be strongly opposed to make option 2 more bearable).

It is really important that during this consultation everyone speaks out against BOTH options that are being proposed by the council. People who live in the area surrounding the York Gardens Library are less likely to make a fuss than communities surrounding the other libraries that are potentially impacted. Please help the council to realise that consultation requires genuine options / choice to enable a fair outcome for people in our local community who most rely on these services.

The council needs to appreciate that, while cuts may be necessary, there are ways of doing this which do not have the deepest impact on communities who need services most.

Please participate in the consultation! You can do so by
? Using the Council website (I'll post a link when I have one)
? Handing it in at any Wandsworth library
? Sending it to:
Library Review Consultation
Library & Heritage Service Administration
Room 219, Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street
LONDON. SW18 2PU

The council is now consulting on only one option - which means that York Gardens Library is being condemned by the council in a cynical attack on a community who are less likely to speak out in support than other communities in the borough. Please support this library by opposing the plans in the consultation. Thank you.

have you namechanged especially for this?

Yes.

I'm the chair of the Kambala Estate Residents Association. We're very concerned at the closure of a library right on our doorstep. By the Council's own figures, our Ward is the most deprived in the Borough. Almost half the homes in Latchmere Ward have no Internet Access, meaning that many residents rely on the library's Internet service. York Gardens Library also has more people living within a 1 mile radius than any other library in the borough - and half of all book loans are to children under 14, which shows how important the library is to families.

To me, it's clear that the only option the Council were interested in was closure of York Gardens library. The other option was only put forward so that they could claim that there was a choice - but closing 6 libraries was never really a realistic option.

A Public meeting is due to be arranged at the library on December 5th at 2pm - it would be good to see as many people there as possible.

There's also a discussion on the www.streetbook.com Battersea Forum group about this, which has more information.

Please consider writing a letter or email to any or all of the following (Councillors and MPs take much more notice of individual letters and emails anyway):

Your local councillors. Find out who they are here: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/200033/councillorsdemocracyand_elections/441/councillors/1

Your MP, Jane Ellison:

Email: [email protected]

Jane Ellison MP,
House of Commons,
London,
SW1A 0AA

Lucy Allan, who chairs the committee who has made this decision: [email protected]

The head of the Library Service: [email protected]

Or hand write / type up a letter and drop it off in any local library.

You don't have to make it long and complicated - just a few words saying what the library means to you, and why you're opposed to its closure will do. Don't forget to include your name and address.

Thanks,

Neil Stead