THREE LIBRARIES ARE TOLD TO GO IT ALONE
Branches taken out of Camden Council control in bid to save service
Published: 2nd June, 2011
by DAN CARRIER
TWO of three libraries expected to be taken out of Town Hall management will close down, regulars at the threatened branches have claimed.
A report on the future of Camden’s library service is set to be considered by the council’s scrutiny committee on Monday and then voted on by the cabinet – the most senior councillors at the Town Hall – on Wednesday.
The proposals pave the way for Heath, Chalk Farm and Belsize libraries to be taken out of council control.
But library volunteers and friends groups say the changes will lead to closures.
Camden’s leisure chief, Labour councillor Tulip Siddiq, said: “We propose to work with community groups over the summer to come up with strong business plans to run them.
“We are not going to withdraw services and just ask them to take them over, but we will speak to people putting forward business proposals, and we will provide transition funding for a year. On no account will we be selling off these library buildings, because we recognise people’s attachment to them.”
She said that the three libraries that will be asked to manage their own affairs had been selected because they already have strong voluntary groups.
“The reason we put forward these proposals is because there is a high concentration of libraries in these areas and there was a strong expression of interest from the groups there,” said Cllr Siddiq.
Under the plans, the three libraries will no longer be part of Camden’s library family by April 2012, and all funding will be withdrawn completely by April 2013.
But the long-established friends groups at Heath and Chalk Farm libraries say the move has been poorly thought out and may not be viable.
A business plan for Belsize library has been put together by The Winchester Project in Swiss Cottage in co-operation with the friends group at the Antrim Grove library – but “Winch” chief executive Paul Perkins has insisted discussions are only at an early stage.
The Winch met the Friends of Belsize in early February and it coincided with the centre being awarded funds to look into running a social enterprise – which could include taking on the library.
Mr Perkins said: “When the threat to Belsize library emerged we felt it was worth talking to the Friends to look at how we might play a role in safeguarding, supporting and developing its role.
“However, we cannot and will not do this alone. We would love to hear from interested entrepreneurs, residents and philanthropists. We believe that together we can create a world-class library of the future.”
Mr Perkins added: “It’s unclear whether the resource on the table from Camden is adequate for such a radical change. We don’t know enough about the additional support or terms and conditions. These are the things that will define whether The Winch can provide what is required. We will see.”
Friends of Belsize Library’s Elaine Hallgarten said: “It is just not possible to be able to be run by the Friends.
“I sent a long list out to our supporters asking if anyone would be prepared to volunteer. The response was total silence.”
Users at Heath Library say there will be no knight on a white charger riding to the rescue of their celebrated branch in Keats Grove when the council pulls the plug on funding.
Heath Friends group treasurer Lee Montague said: “They say we can take it over, but frankly that is a very long shot.
“We just can’t see the logic. We could not contemplate running it ourselves – it would not be possible to raise that kind of money every year, to maintain the building, pay for staffing, manage the book stock. This is a devious way of closing our library.”
Camden Public Library User Group (C-Plug) chairman Alan Templeton, Mr Montague and the Heath and Hampstead Society chairman Tony Hillier said the plans should be delayed for more options to be explored so all of the threatened libraries can be kept within council control.
C-Plug believe a fourth option should be considered.
Mr Templeton said: “We want all 13 libraries kept under council control. Why not cut hours right across the board, keep a council staff member in each branch and then bolster it by using volunteers? That way, if finances improve the libraries are still managed by the Town Hall.”
Mr Templeton said C-Plug would now lobby councillors to vote down all three options and would consider a judicial review if the scheme went ahead.
Friends of Chalk Farm Library chairwoman Philippa Jackson said the plan would sound the death knell for the popular branch in Sharpeshall Street.
She added: “There is absolutely no firm business plan in place. The idea that from 2013 we could take it on is worrying – to find £138,000 a year would be a huge financial burden to take on for any community group.”
Cllr Siddiq insisted her hands were tied. She said: “We will ensure they get all the help they need. We have had to make very difficult decisions to find savings of £100million because of national government cuts and as other departments such as children’s services, older people’s care services and social care have had to make cuts, so the library service must change too.”
Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Mennear said the idea of using volunteers and community groups was similar to the Tories’ flagship “Big Society” concept.
He added: “People simply do not want to see library closures and a large number are prepared to give up their time to keep them open.
“It appears Councillor Tulip Siddiq and the Labour Party are willing to try out the Big Society – and that is welcome.
“We should be looking to find new ways to provide services from the outside. We need to find new ways and then reduce costs of running them.”
Lib Dem leisure spokeswoman Councillor Flick Rea said: “No libraries will close tomorrow but I suspect in four years’ time there will be fewer then there are today. At best this is a compromise and at worst it will not work.
“It seems peculiarly unjust that those libraries with the most active friends groups have been targeted. They are saying, ‘you want it, you provide it’.”
3 wishes – Options set to be voted on
CAMDEN’S long-awaited library action plan has been split into three options – all aimed at saving £2million from an £8m budget in the next three years. It will be voted on by the Town Hall’s most senior councillors on Wednesday. They will discuss the following choices:
PROPOSAL A
The favoured option according to Town Hall insiders, this will see opening hours cut by 10 per cent 10 library staff jobs going. Regent’s Park Library would be turned into a learning and community centre. Highgate Library would share space with other council services in the former mobile library storage area attached the to building to provide extra income – but if no further community uses can be found or extra cash brought in, it could be handed over to a community group to run or closed.
PROPOSAL B
Opening hours would be slashed across 11 libraries by 35 per cent. Control at Belsize and Chalk Farm given to community groups.
PROPOSAL C
Seven out of 13 branches close permanently. It would see Belsize, Chalk Farm, Heath, Highgate, Regent’s Park, Camden Town and West Hampstead all close their doors for good.
On top of these plans, senior councillors will be asked to vote on the following cuts, which will be implemented with all three options: Scrap the mobile library service; Increase fees and charges; Find a new, non-council managed homes for the Local Studies Archives; Reduce management costs; Reduce the numbers of computers available; Reduce by 25 per cent the number of new books bought
Archive looks certain to go as service axe falls
ONE of the certain victims of the libraries shake-up looks set to be the Camden Local Studies Archive.
The Holborn centre, which is staffed by six people helped by a small team of volunteers, is a treasure trove of information about Camden’s past – but Town Hall number crunchers say it is too expensive to run in its present guise and its swathe of documents, pictures and quirky objects from yesteryear will now need a new home, saving around £135,000 a year from the overall budget.
The report says the way the borough’s archives are stored is “poor” and that the service is expensive to manage due to the relatively small number of people who use it, compared with other library services.
Cllr Tulip Siddiq said: “We do not think we can honestly invest enough in it to look after it properly.”
Instead, the Town Hall now plan to tout the collection around specialist institutes: the British Museum will be approached, as will universities and the London Metropolitan Archive.
Staff could be transferred to looking after the service with its new guardians – but nothing has been confirmed.
Former archivist Malcolm Holmes, who ran the service for three decades, questioned whether the plans would work.
He said: “This fills me with horror. The councils of Brent, Westminster and Islington do not have the space to it take on and, with the exception of Westminster, their collections and staffing are much smaller.”
He said that visitors often spent many days researching the collection, which is packed with maps, back issues of local papers, diaries, personal documents and census material, meaning the cost of the archive base on individual visits was distorted.
Mr Holmes said that if another body took on the archive, Camden would still be asked to contribute to its upkeep.
He added: “There is the danger that any service provided cheaply will be significantly reduced.”