London Borough of Culture
2019 - Waltham Forest
2020 - Brent
2022 - Lewisham
2023 - Croydon
2025 - Wandsworth
2027 - Haringey
All have (or plan to) cut, close or outsource libraries.
Are Public Libraries not a part of their culture offer?
#mylocalculture
... This is one of the Croydon libraries the council wants to close. It makes no sense!
And people still unaware that Croydon libraries are under threat.😢
FOURTH trip to libraries and finally got my hands on some of Croydon's library consultation docs.
Local library that they want to close buzzing with activity - families chatting and reading, young people studying, people using the PCs, lots of borrowing nd returns...
Plaid Cymru Wales welcomes return of community library
https://t.co/z2DDIf2NeE
They’re pleased about a few shelves of books in a community hall managed by volunteers that’s only open for 5.5hrs one day a week, oh sorry it must be the 3D printer 🙄
#libraries#volunteerism
“of encouraging both adults and children to make full use of the library service, and of providing advice as to its use and of making available such bibliographical and other information as may be required by persons using it;”
Staffless opening doesn’t achieve this.
#libraries
Offloading Public Libraries to volunteers is a tragic short-term ‘solution’ to a long-term crisis.
Public Libraries have been around since 1850, they are a statutory service.
We need sustainable funding & staffing not closure by stealth.
#savelibraries
17p of every pound of your money is spent on Croydon’s debt. That’s instead of urgent needs like safe streets or child services.
Croydon needs a deal now with national government so we can fix this.
A question for all the retired professionals now running closed libraries;
Would you have backed offloading your service/profession to volunteers?
Volunteer Barristers?
Volunteer Doctors?
Volunteer Accountants?
Volunteer Teachers?
#libraries#volunteerism
@ElizCro And other RAs in #Croydon pushing for just two days a week opening for the local public library?
Is this really what Sanderstead library users want?
@SaveSanderstead@SandersteadLCG
🤔
Advertising the severely reduced hours at our library rather than fighting for greater opening hours, but then the RA has never campaigned for the library in all the years it’s been under threat
LAST DAY to contribute to the Croydon libraries consultation.
We believe ALL libraries should be open and properly staffed. The savings should be found from elsewhere
https://t.co/gKTlg9ilnS
#savelibraries
Respond before MIDNIGHT! (26 July)
No mention of this at the library or on the Council’s website. You need to be on Twitter to find out!
Croydon certainly knows how to promote libraries, don’t they? 🙄
Be very careful in Sanderstead today if you go out to vote. Sanderstead library cannot open tomorrow as no updated risk assessment but is fully open today as a polling station, with residents allowed inside the library to vote.
My advice to Library Friends/Campaign Groups is join the @LibraryCampaign and link in with the other groups across the country. Their magazine/website is full of useful and interesting info and their chair @lswaffield1 is a walking encyclopaedia of campaigning/libraries.
If library services, housing services, social services etc etc were all properly funded/staffed there wouldn’t be any need for ‘community hubs’, all these services have been slashed to the bone so there are less funds/resources, buildings & staff.
It ain’t innovative it’s cuts 🤷♀️