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".

Brentford Library Read-In, Saturday 5th February from 12pm

Local campaigners including actress Susan Penhaligon, broadcaster Anna Ford and MP Mary Macleod will be staging a read-in at Brentford Library this Saturday as part of a National Day of Protest Against Library Closures.

Bring along a book to read, or you can pick one off the shelves. Bring a utility bill and join the library if you are not already a member.  Turn up from midday and have a public read in the knowledge that people all over the country will be doing the same.  Bring your children along and tell all your friends.

About Save Our Libraries LBH

Save Our Libraries LBH is an ad hoc initiative by Isleworth-based residents to lend our support and practical assistance to the campaign to keep Isleworth and other local libraries open, following proposals by the London Borough of Hounslow to axe up to eight of the borough's eleven libraries.

Whilst we appreciate the position that our local authority, like others, finds itself in, we believe that any move to close libraries in our borough would be a retrograde step, as well as quite possibly unlawful.  Libraries are a vital educational resource and it is in our view unreasonable and discriminatory to expect older or disabled people to travel to the "main" libraries in Hounslow, Feltham or Chiswick to access these facilities.

Unlike some other services, libraries would be almost impossible to replace once they have been closed down. Once your local library has gone, it will be gone forever.

A library, like our community halls and area committees (which are also under threat), is an essential resource for social interaction and local democracy.

Save Our Libraries LBH is not an organisation as such and does not have a formal membership structure.  If you agree with what we stand for and like what we are doing then you're in.

This site will be updated regularly.  Please keep an eye on it for regular news and activities.