Library services are being eroded by cuts

#NLD14 In the past two years 275 libraries have closed down in the UK as government cuts have forced councils to cut back on the provision of non statutory services. Today is National Libraries Day and Louis Whittle, writing on the False Economy blog, gives examples of how cuts and automation are decimating the quality of library services: ‘the cuts will have an immeasurable impact on learning. Libraries give equal access to education but the erosion due to cuts will create a society where the poor will not have the same access as people with money’

The public library service under attack

UNISON has published a new report as part of the ‘Damage Series’ which examines the damage done to the public library service in the UK since 2010 as a result of cutbacks in local government funding. The report is a result of a survey of nearly 2000 library staff and reveals a service in jeopardy, with the public paying the price as they lose their local library or face increasing charges, dwindling opening hours and shrinking staffing levels in those that remain.
https://www.unison.org.uk/upload/sharepoint/On%20line%20Catalogue/21589.pdf

Resisting library closures

Yesterday UNISON convened a meeting of library workers from across the country to discuss cuts in public library services. Alan Wylie has blogged a report of the meeting and calls on union branches to ‘make links with local anti-cuts and campaign groups and of course local communities and service users to build coalitions of resistance to fight closures and 'hollowing out' of library services’:
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/
2013/04/unison-research-into-public-library-cuts.html.

Celebrate National Libraries Day by joining your local campaign to save them!

#NLD13 Today is national libraries day in the UK but what should be a celebration of the crucial contribution of libraries to human development and social progress is tinged by sadness and rising anger. Ever increasing numbers of libraries face closure throughout the UK as austerity cuts bite deep into the budgets of local councils, schools and universities. Over 200 libraries have closed in the UK over the past two years and UNISON branches across all regions are linking up with local community groups to resist further closures in the next round of spending cuts:
http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/
http://union-news.co.uk/2013/02/unison-throws-book-at-tories-over-library-closures/

Speaking up for Libraries

Saturday's 'Speak up for Libraries' conference was a resounding success. UNISON is a member of a national coalition of organisations campaigning against library closures and privatisation. National Officer Helga Pile was a keynote speaker and libraries campaigner Alan Wylie has blogged an excellent report on the London event:
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-2012-speak-up-for-libraries.html?spref=tw&m=1

Libraries essential to 'equality of opportunity' - Zadie Smith

The Bookseller reports on Zadie Smith's interview on BBC 5 Live on Thursday when she spoke about the importance of libraries as a social resource available to all citizens. "A library is the most simple and open way to give people access to books. I owe my whole life to books and libraries. The library was a place I went to to find out what there was to know." Smith has been an outspoken opponent of library closures which have intensified in the past two years under the Con Dem austerity cuts programme:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/zadie-smith-owes-life-libraries.html

'Big Society' Volunteering & Job Substitution

As austerity cuts kick in, an article in this week's Economist magazine highlights a rise in the number of volunteers running public services, notably in libraries where 'the number of volunteer librarians has increased by over 70% in five years, to 21,642 in 2011'.
http://www.economist.com/node/
21559939?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/unpaid_armies

A crime against culture and learning - the Con Dem decimation of Libraries

New research by @publiclibnews (Public Libraries News) has revealed that over 150 libraries have been closed or put into the hands of volunteers in the past year because of public spending cuts with a further 225 at risk of closure:

http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/  

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/
revealed-the-full-cost-of-the-cull-of-public-libraries-7988028.html

More strike action in Cheshire West & Chester Library Service

Yesterday, for the second Saturday in succession, UNISON's library members took strike action across West Cheshire in support of the union's industrial campaign against pay cuts imposed by a Tory led Council which is sitting on over £20m reserves.

Speak up for Libraries - today in Parliament

#savelibraries UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis and writer Kate Mosse will be among the speakers at today’s lobby of Parliament and rally to highlight the importance of libraries in providing access to learning and as a vital lifeline for many communities. Library services have borne the considerable brunt of public spending cuts since the Coalition government took office in 2010. Of the 4,612 libraries in the UK, an estimated 10% are currently either closed or under threat of closure.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/116512
http://www.unison.org.uk/speakupforlibraries/index.asp

National Libraries Day - get involved

#NLD12 Today events are being held thoughout the UK to promote the invaluable contribution of libraries to local communities - at a time when library services are at the sharp end of Con Dem austerity cuts in local government: http://nationallibrariesday.org.uk/

Injunction blocks Tory Council plans to replace libraries staff with volunteers

Library campaigners in Surrey have won a court injunction which stops the Tory led County Council from replacing paid staff at 10 libraries with volunteers.The action was brought last week by Surrey Libraries Action Movement (SLAM), whose spokesman Lee Godfrey told the BBC “We were expecting a three-week wait while the judge considered the merits of the case before deciding whether to issue an injunction. It didn't take the judge very long to decide that our case was strong enough to merit a quick injunction."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-16665381

Support Your Public Libraries - Lobby Parliament on 13 March 2012

#librarieslobby UNISON, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), Voices for the Library, The Library Campaign, Campaign for the Book and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) will hold a joint lobby of Parliament on 13 March 2012 - calling on politicians to protect vital library services: http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/
pressrelease_view.asp?id=2567

Market forces threaten public library services

John Pateman writes on the Bookseller website about the growing threat posed to public libraries by closures and outsourcing of services by local authorities across the country: ‘there are very strong parallels between the National Health Service and the Public Library Service. Both were designed as public goods to deliver high-quality services at the point of need. They are both highly cherished and valued public institutions which set the standard for (and are the envy of) many other countries. And they are both facing unprecedented "modernisation" and "transformation" which will open them up to market forces and allow private providers to put greed before need’ http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/passing-buck.html

Cuts pose threat to quality of Library Services

A report on the Future Libraries Programme's 10 pilot projects highlights a growing dependency on volunteers as local government cuts threaten the future of hundreds of libraries in Britain: http://m.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/06/libraries-will-rely-on-volunteers?cat=books&type=article

Con Dem deregulation mania will undermine our quality of life

De-regulate and burn! Snip that red tape to smithereens! ‘Efficiencies’ and privatisation will be all the easier without the annoyance of the law and statutory instruments’, writes Heather Wakefield UNISON National Secretary for Local Government, on the Public Finance website:
http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2011/04/from-red-tape-to-mouldy-sausages-by-heather-wakefield/

Libraries - amenities or necessities?

A many as 400 local libraries are at risk from closure as a result of Con Dem austerity cuts. See voices for the library blog for up-to date news on local library campaigns and closures:http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/

LGA 2011 Budget Survey reveals downward spiral of cuts

The Local Government Association (LGA) has published its Council Budgets, Spending and Saving Survey for 2011. All local authorities in England in membership of the LGA were surveyed last month: http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=17710284

Hundreds in Suffolk Libraries Demonstration

Over 500 people attended the great demonstration in Ipswich yesterday against Suffolk County Council's plans to close 29 of its 44 Libraries unless they are sold off or run by volunteers. Anglia Tonight News Report http://www.itv.com/anglia/

Con Dem Cutastrophe in Manchester

The cuts programme has so far been regarded by many in our communities to be something of a phoney war. Job loss numbers have been known but no one quite knew which jobs would go. Local residents knew services would be cut but not which services they would lose. But the phoney war is now over and the battle of the cuts has truly begun.