Library Closure Delay: Your Thoughts

Reproduced with acknowledgements to the Hounslow Chronicle

By Jessica Thompson

RESIDENTS have reacted to a council decision to delay library closure proposals.

The authority announced on Tuesday that it would minimise cuts to front line services after residents swamped them with responses during the public budget consultation.

It will be deferring some book purchases up to the value of £300,000, minimising the risk of library closure, while a more specific library consultation is under way.

But the libraries are not safe yet. The proposal to make immediate savings in this way still leaves a shortfall of £569,300 from the total amount that needs to be shaved from the library services budget. Libraries are still at risk.

Community members have been in touch with The Chronicle since the news broke, as well as discussing the plans on internet forums.

Below are some of the responses:

Cllr Sachin Gupta, Labour councillor for the Bedfont ward, said: "This is more positive than how things were before. It will give us the time now to work on it in more detail.

"This will buy us more time to work on a strategy. The world is changing and we probably have to change as well, it's just how we do it. There was hardly any time for people to respond when it was first announced. It's positive".

Brentford resident and campaigner Hazel Dakers said: "I think it's great that there has been a postponement of the destruction of eight branch libraries in Hounslow. However I am dismayed that the council statement implies that libraries are merely buildings. For a library service to be "alive" and relevant it must have a continuous flow of new book stock (and other media).

"Closing book funds inevitably causes level of use to drop off and then the council can say they may as well close down the branches".

Phil Andrews on the TW8 Brentford forum, said: "The Chronicle article doesn't read to me like an unqualified victory for the residents, just a consultation extended for an unspecified time, on unspecified terms at the end of which the local authority, if it didn't have the money before to keep our libraries open and functioning properly, will still not have the money to keep them open and functioning property.

"I'm sorry but this does not add up to me. We should continue with the campaign and emphasise the need to protect our library services in their entirety".

Library Decision "Deferral" - LBH Climbdown or Smoke and Mirrors?

According to the Hounslow Chronicle, which has been helping residents to organise against the proposed library closures, the London Borough of Hounslow would appear to be retreating from its threat to close libraries across the board and will instead be "deferring some book purchases" and launching a "more specific consultation" over libraries which will "decide the longer term strategy".

The full text of the article is available here.

Whilst this hardly represents an unequivocal declaration that our libraries will be kept open, invested in and supported as a matter of policy it is of course welcome news up to a point.

However the glad tidings do not stop there.  Proposed cuts to community halls are also to be delayed.  Youth centre activities previously under threat will now remain open and fully functional, and hugely valued but costly street cleansing services will be kept after all.

The unanswered question of course is how retaining all these facilities, retained though they should be, is suddenly going to be paid for.  A few days ago we were to all intents and purposes being told that the firstborn could no longer be fed unless we would allow every community building, every venue at which local people might conceivably come into contact with one another, to be shut down instantly.  Now suddenly it would appear this was not the case.

Which begs two further questions in particular.  The first one being, if the money to keep these premises open and these services running truly does not exist, as we were first told, then how is the local authority going to finance this new, revised agenda?

Conversely, if the funds to keep the libraries and community venues open does exist and was always available, what was the motive behind suggesting closing them to begin with?

The community should accept this news in good faith, but we must ensure that it becomes more than just a stay of execution.  Activities in defence of our libraries, community buildings and area committees must continue until we have a cast iron guarantee that they will be protected for the duration of the current administration.