Protecrt our public libraries.

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-hands-off-our-public-libraries-2057131.html

This could be the worst thing that has ever been done to education in this country.

Would MN like to stick it's considerable oar in?

I suspect they would take action if libraries were to be privatised - if only as a result of massive pressure from their members

Is anybody else going to contact their MP?

I agree - let's have a campaign. If we are interested in saving the world's resources it's ridiculous for everyone to be buying books,reading them once, and then getting rid of them. Libraries are vital if you don't have a lot of money and want to read.

Maisie, the untimely death of Bob McKee could not have come at a worse time for CILIP
There is NO sign of a response to the Future Libraries Programme on the CILIP website yet

Leslie, the government's interpretation of the Public Libraries Act 1964's clauses will be that the councils will still enable a library service to be provided. What they are doing here is serving notice that councils will no longer have to pay qualified/experienced librarians to run them.

There was a statement on the 27th July, expressing concern at Govt actions - but you're right, Bob's death has not come at a good time for CILIP (but obviously that's not important at all, compared to what his family and friends are experiencing )

Hi all, I just posted this to another thread on here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1025834-to-think-that-we-NEED-libraries-This-is-horrific?msgid=21018968 and thought I had better post it here too.

"Are any of you based in or around Cheltenham? If so you might be interested in my plans. In my earlier post I mentioned that I live in Gloucestershire and we received news recently that our book budget is going to be cut by 40%...yes 40%! for the whole county and that is BEFORE the further ConDem cuts are imposed in the Autumn. Contrary to what Tim says there is NOT "plenty of funding" for our libraries and it is set to get worse. While the council told the local newspaper "for the last five years the council has spent, on average, almost £1 million a year on stock" it failed to tell it that the recent years budget is actually only £556,477 making a cut of £209,500 far more significant than they would have us believe! For a county of our size that is certainly not plenty of funding and this is just the start I fear. I am yet to learn from the council why they are having to make such a drastic cut and where it is going. With these worries in mind I am setting up a Friends of Cheltenham Library Group as currently there is no-one to ask these questions, hold the council to account or to protect our precious library. If any of you are interested in being involved in this or have any questions I have registered my details on "The Library Campaign" website www.librarycampaign.com/LocalGroups and am hoping they will be posted on there in the next few days (I have only just registered our group with them). Please feel free to contact me. Also, if you live in Glos but not Cheltenham and are interested in setting up a similar group at your library so we have a network across the county please also feel free to get in touch. The council need to know we are watching them!
I hope to hear from some of you soon.
You can also contact me through "contact poster" we would really appreciate your support. :)

I'm in. What does a MN campaign mean/do?

(Not meaning to be arsey btw...)

Please run a campaign on this - it's taken 150 years to build up the public library service in this country. The government have a statuatory duty to maintain ' a comprehensive and efficient' library service - instead they are set on closures and privatisation of a service most of them have never had to make use of.
Check out Alan Gibbons (children's author) blog and his Campaign for the Book to see how much damage is being done to libraries nationally. Experts predict that 1000 community libraries are likely to be lost (for good) in the next 18 months alone.

Mumsnet needs to campaign on this now.

Thanks, Nottirednow - I didn't know there was a Campaign thread. Yes, I'm in. Emails the lot. I think campaigns often do work, and at the very least remind the policy makers what the things they do mean to ordinary people.

Read this great article: www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/tim-lott-the-local-library-a-beacon-of-civilisation-2191769.html

It helps to answer the question why save the libraries when poor people need other things more.

I'm a librarian, and having worked for many years in public libraries I know my and my colleagues' work has changed and enriched lives enormously. (I'm now an academic art librarian - art schools have our own nightmarish problems, having lost their entire teaching fund in one fell swoop). It's also a massive insult, with great respect to community-spirited and generous volunteers, to say that our work, informed by experience and professional training and judgement, can be done just as well by volunteers. Which other profession would people dare to belittle in this way? No co-incidence, of course, that we're mostly women. Mumsnet- get on this one big time, please- we can never, never replace our precious network of libraries once it's gone.Libraries are a sign of a democratic, civilised society - something the ignorant, selfish Con-Demmers wouldn't recognize if they tripped over it. Let's act - now!

I really hope mumsnet back this campaign. There is a national day of action on 5th February. You may well find that your local library is hosting an event.

Mine is: if you live in South West London please come along:

York Gardens Library (5 minutes from Clapham Junction). Read-in starts at 12.30 (with noisy rhyme time for kids) and will run til 3pm. Authors and others will read from their work and local people will talk about what the library means to them.

Come along!

This local library supports children who do not have computer access, do not have books at home, need the help they get at the library to do their homework and helps other local people gain qualifications and find jobs. It is vital and the only community space in a very deprived area.

Please support your local library.

Just so you all know, Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, will be with us on Monday for a webchat. If you'd like to ask him any questions regarding libraries you can post them on the thread here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_live_events/1135736-Live-Webchat-with-Ed-Vaizey-Minister-for-Culture-Communications-and-Creative-Industries-Monday-31-January-1-15-2-15pm

The response from Ed Vaizey is surely going to be 'local accountability'. The central government has not requested that libraries have been shut, they have handed the buck to local councils, some of which are enthusiastically swinging the machete, some not. There has been quite a lot of negative comment over recent decades about centralising of power, so Ed Vaizey if he has any sense will stick to his message that the decision is a local one. Surely we should lobby county councils as well/more?

The response from Ed Vaizey was dire and shows precisely why MN really needs to help with this issue. There's an enormous amount of lobbying of local councils going on. It is a cop out for the government to say that it is not their decision. The government are pushing more local accountability, which distances them from tough decisions. Different councils have different approaches but some seem to be choosing the 'easiest' libraries - i.e. those whose users are less likely to make lots of noise. This is certainly the case in Wandsworth where only one (out of 27) libraries is to close. It's the only one in a labour held ward (council is strongly Tory) and its the one in the most deprived borough. There's no local accountability for this decision at all.

It reflects badly on both local and national government that this is allowed to happen. And the negative impacts on both children and adults in the local area with be huge and immediate.

This blog has more info.