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Dan Jarvis, Labour’s shadow culture minister, is hoping to pick up some twitter followers and stir the middle classes with his call to stop government cuts of libraries.

Libraries come under the funding of local government. Its the local authorities who decide on local cuts. Most local authorities raced to close their libraries once the much reduced budgets of 2010/2011 were announced.

Labour are carping that “160 libraries have already closed their doors or been handed over to volunteers.”

Another 225 are at risk.

They aren’t wrong. Those 225 would have been closed long ago except for an astonishing series of blunders, illegal actions, distortions of data and  failure to properly consult by district councils.

They shut libraries on a purely budget basis without considering their social obligation and the requirement in law for councils to provide a library service.

“A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said it estimates
that only 60 libraries based in buildings have closed over the last year.
This does not include figures for mobile library closures.”

Which is disingenuous as that department knows full well that there are very many awaiting appeal and the subjects of legal action. Plus a whole host have been given a 12 month reprieve only.

So libraries are in the front line and have been and will be hit by evil coalition cuts.

But do we need libraries?

There were 315 million visits to all the 4500 libraries in {2010/11} which was a fall of some 7% on the previous year and continued the trend of 5-10% falls in footfall numbers year on year. And footfall might just mean people popping in for a leaflet. Or to read the paper. Or to ask a question of the locality. Many of those visits will be to borrow CDs and DVDs. Or send emails. Kids hanging out after school and so on.

 

I’m very conscious of my own hypocrisy in signing up to save the local library. It is one of the smallest in the country and has a tiny footfall and employs just 1.5 people. And I have never used it. Not once in seven years. Even though I am the perfect library demographic of white/ middle class/kids aged 2-10/ pick the kids up from local school and walk right past the place on the way home. Eldest could read at three years old and reads, to my cost, a book or more a week.

However, libraries are public services. They are for all. I don’t use the bus service either but don’t feel that it should be discontinued. But i’ve long wondered why we supply VHS/DVD’s music and video games for free? Just to sustain numbers? 

CD sales and DVD’s numbers are also in long term decline. Downloading is the new vinyl.

Libraries are very 19th century in their model. 

The main cost of libraries is in the buildings and personnel. The tiny one in my constituency costs around £35,000 a year to run. The catchment area is 1000 households. It would be possible to take a single year’s budget and give the poorest 1/3 of the town a free kindle. {Hat tip Winton House who corrected the glaring error of a free E-reader for all}.
The following year a £100 of book tokens each of those homes. Or just look out for those with need, those on benefits, kids under 16, single mums or whatever the current disadvantaged standard is. Over time the library cost shrinks to perhaps just 10-15% of its current spend.
And remove the disgrace of VAT on e-books as they are ‘software’ and its cheaper for all.

Some say that the library is a internet cafe for those unable to afford a computer.
Fine. Its still cheaper to give, for free, a basic laptop and a discount for broadband to the very poorest than to have a dedicated building for their use. Or put the computers into village halls or local clubs. Or local amenities that are already in use. Like  Information centers. Council Offices. Post Offices. Kid’s clubs. It could be a part of planning for any new supermarket. An area for ‘free’ or limited charge internet use.

Or, conceivably, an arrangement with WH Smiths or Amazon or Harper Collins would allow some to receive books by post. An internet style Library. Order on your phone/telly/laptop and have the book posted out and then posted back after ‘x’ weeks. Love Film for books.

It would be quite expensive to do that.

But not as expensive as sustaining 4,000 odd public libraries and all of the support services. The proposed cuts will amount to the loss of some 10% of library
services. 

If we can’t cut a service that is in long term decline, with
falling visitor numbers, that can be relatively easily replaced, redesigned or
reformed by technology then what can we cut?

2012-08-27 05:49:23

Source: http://www.cityunslicker.com/2012/08/library-closures-is-that-so-bad.html