Selling Save our Libraries ribbons outside the Sheldonian!
Save Headington Library supporters were out in force this morning at the start of the Oxford Literary Festival. Almost everyone we talked to bought a purple ribbon and expressed their support for the Save Oxfordshire Libraries campaign. Many were shocked that libraries in a city with such a celebrated literary history are facing cuts and possible closure.
As you will all have seen, a statement was issued by the Leader of the County Council last week to this effect
I want to reassure people that the County Council is looking at all options and has an open mind about the outcome of the consultation
I want the Council to work hand-in-hand with local communities to find a way to keep libraries open in Oxfordshire and to forge ahead with creating a modern library service that is comprehensive and efficient.
I want to see libraries remain open but this can only happen if, in some places, volunteers step forward to help to run them. We have seen how effective a Friends Group can be and believe they should form an essential component of every library service provided by the Council. In the coming year I want to work with every community that does not yet have one to establish a Library Friends Group to work with our staff to agree the best way forward for that library.
In those places where the Council cannot afford to provide a full library service, I want the Council to give ongoing access to important local library facilities. More specifically, I believe we should continue to provide free access to a suitable library building, to our book stock; to the library stock management system and the expertise of qualified librarians.
I have already announced that an additional late government grant has enabled us to put a little more money back into the service, giving the opportunity to rethink our strategy and to take longer over consultation. As part of the consultation, I want the County Council to have a dialogue with local people library-by-library. The consultation into the future of the library service will begin in mid-May. The consultation will run until the end of September to give plenty of time to hear people’s views and to consider options. However, we still need to make some savings.No decisions have been taken. Officers are working hard to rethink the process, complete the needs assessment and put together a consultation document.
The tone of the statement is different to what we have become accustomed to, but there is little to cheer the patrons of Bury Knowle Library here, other than to delay the start of the consultation period. It is still a question of “Wait and See!” while the county officers re-assess their data and consider other options.
Meanwhile credit is due to the Save Oxfordshire Libraries campaign, of which Save Headington Library Group is a member; by sticking together, we have accomplished much in persuading the county to have a re-think on a much loved and well-used service.
A meeting was held this afternoon at County Hall with Cllr Judith Heathcoat, Cabinet Member for Libraries, John Jackson, Director of Social and Community Services, Jillian Southwell from the County Library Service, and Claire Phillips from the Policy Directorate. Representatives from Headington were:
A huge amount of information has been released by the County recently including:
The Director confirmed that a 23% reduction needed to be made from the Library Service budget, a reduction of £2m from the current total of £8.7m, by 2014/15.
The implementation of any discontinuation of funding to libraries would take place at the end of December 2011.
The request for a meeting with the Director and Cabinet Member by the above group would be considered by the County Council as an expression of interest in looking at all options in keeping library services going in Headington, in their current or an alternative form.
The decision of whether to approve bids for transition funding for community library projects is likely to slip to the end of June or beginning of July, details will follow.
The County had considered other options, including a reduction across the board for all county libraries (which would result in a reduction of opening hours and staff costs by 30%) and had discussed the possibility of outsourcing all its services with a UK provider, but neither had proved viable. Discussions on outsourcing are currently underway with a US provider.
The County has not yet released its guidance to community groups on what service level agreements can be offered by the County Library Service as buy-ins by community libraries. Professional services might include access to the library management system and bookstock, infrastructure support and training of volunteer staff. This will be released by the end of this month.
It is likely that bids for transition funding from Big Society libraries would include the cost of installing self-issue systems but criteria are to be decided.
Financial questions are being sent to the Director by our accountant and he will respond as soon as he can.
There was an emphasis by County on ensuring that the funded library hubs would be spread geographically. One of the most significant factors taken into account when selecting which libraries would be retained or cut appeared to be travel time. Another was the proximity of libraries to shopping areas. There was also a mention of “community drop off points” which are under consideration to those areas where library services would be cut.
The County is preparing a local needs analysis for each area and this will give us more information about what each area is like in terms of nos. children on free school meals, nos. people not in employment, education or training etc. etc.
Significant points that were raised included:
Most importantly, it was emphasised that the timescales were unattainable for an effective business case to be built up for the biggest libraries in the existing schedule. This point was understood and taken away for further consideration.
A meeting is being scheduled for the end of March. This will allow the County time to send out guidance and local needs assessments, and will give the group more time to analyse the information, learn about different types of social enterprises and how community libraries can be run, and work out alternative ways in which the County can make the savings without closing libraries.
Here is a snapshot of work in progress
The County Council issued a press release at the end of November on its proposals to discontinue funding for 20 of its 43 public libraries, including Bury Knowle Library. This is due to happen at some point during the 2011/12 financial year
Important dates
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County Council budget is set (proposals include library savings) |
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Closing date for expressions of interest from the community in taking over the running of the library |
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03/11-05/11 |
Consultation period on the proposals |
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Closing date for communities wishing to bid for transition funds from the County pot of £600K (can be for running libraries and/or youth activities with discontinued funding) |
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08/2012 |
End date for Phase 1 of the Future Libraries Programme |
Timescales appear to have been driven by the County’s involvement in a successful bid with Kent County Council to be flagship authorities in the Future Libraries Programme, and the project’s remit is the following.
Delivering Library Services for the Future (Oxfordshire and Kent)
Two large counties are using the opportunity this Programme provides to develop a new long term model for library services provided in rural counties. The model will need to substantially and permanently reduce the cost of provision, while retaining those features which are valuable to customers (good stock, access to information, community spaces and knowledgeable staff). The new model will need to deliver library services fit for purpose in the 21st century, including extensive online services such as e books, e loans and social networking, as well as provision that draws on Big Society principles of locally driven and community based activity.
Issues
The County Council is currently developing guidance for community groups who may be interested in running library services but this has still not been released. Information that we need as a priority includes:
Action taken so far
Local councillors and HA have agreed that this will be a cross-Party/”non-Political” campaign
We have done some desk research and found information on other authorities who have taken similar action, most notably
Richard Stevens and Emma Chamberlain have written to Joanna Simons Chief Executive, Oxon County Council with a 6 page letter of objection / concerns that OCC is not fulfilling its duties under the 1964 Act and in light of the findings of the Public Inquiry in the Wirral
Save Headington Library campaign group has been set up and will meet for the first time this evening, members include: Sarah Eddie, Alex Babkevich, Lynda Hayward and others
There are a number of sites, including
http://www.headingtonlibrary.org.uk/
http://saveheadingtonlibrary.blogspot.com
and a Facebook site
http://www.facebook.com/SaveHeadingtonLibrary
A meeting has been arranged for 2.30 on Wednesday 2 February with Cabinet Member for Libraries Cllr Mrs Judith Heathcoat and senior officers, hopefully including Caroline Taylor, the
Cllr Roy Darke as Chair of the NE Area Committee
Cllr Ruth Wilkinson as Vice-Chair, NE Area Committee
Fiona Mackenzie (accountant, has prepared a cost benefit analysis)
Tanya Field representing Headington Action
Tony Joyce representing the Co-ordinating Committee of Headington RAs
Sarah Eddie representing Save Headington Library campaign group
We are hoping to persuade the Cabinet Member to reconsider her decision to discontinue funding for Bury Knowle Library, but need to keep all options open, including outsourcing the running of the library. There have been a number of suggestions from residents for income generating and/or community activities at Bury Knowle House. We would welcome more!
Many of our residents were at Area Committee last night to voice their support for keeping Headington Library open. County Officer Simon Kearey was there to explain the process. Expressions of interest from communities to retain libraries earmarked for closure must be in by the end of February 2011, and can be registered on futurelibraries@oxfordshire.com. The “consultation” on whether libraries will have their funding discontinued will happen from March – May 2011. Bids to continue a local library service in a different way will be appraised at the end of June but we don’t know who is doing the appraising and what criteria they will use. There will be guidance for community groups but it’s not ready yet. There is a £600K pot of money which groups can bid into to pay for setting up the alternative management arrangements for both libraries and youth activities.
It is hard to see how the Cabinet member can reassure our residents that these proposals are not yet set in stone, as there will be a Cabinet meeting on 25 January to agree the budget and the budget sign-off will happen on 15 February by the Full County Council, over which the Conservatives have full control. The cuts to the Library budget are already included in the Tory budget proposals.
This means that by the time the “consultation period” takes place, the funding from libraries will have been cut so dramatically that it will be almost impossible to argue a case for funding to be continued for the libraries on the ‘hit list’.
People at the meeting showed their frustration about (a) lack of consultation (b) lack of information and (c) the impracticality of timescales given by the County. It was resolved that the Chair and Vice Chair of NEAC (Cllr Darke and Ruth) will arrange for a group to meet the Cabinet Member for Libraries, Cllr Mrs Judith Heathcoat and other senior officers to find out more information and discuss the options for a fallback plan if our efforts to save the Library in its current form do not succeed. We are asking for representatives from community groups including Headington Action and Save Headington Library to go with us to ensure that the views of local residents are discussed fully.
In addition to this the four county councillors from NE Area are asking for ten days consultancy time to be spent on community development in the area – including public library provision
Simon Kearey from Oxfordshire County Council will be attending Tuesday’s Area Committee meeting to explain the proposals concerning proposed closures of libraries and to answer questions.
This is your chance to tell a County Officer what you think of the proposals to discontinue funding for Bury Knowle Library
North East Area Committee
Date: Tuesday 18 January 2011
Time: 6.00 pm
Place: Sandhills Primary School, Terrett Avenue
It is item 4 on the agenda
This may be one of the last area committees held as the Labour group wants to abolish them. But we feel it is the best local forum available for residents to air their comments, raise important local issues, and speak about local planning applications at a local venue.
The abolition of area committees would also mean that your local councillors will no longer be deciding planning applications in your ward. The proposal is to have 2 centralised committees to do this at the Town Hall, and will mean that councillors without knowledge of your local area will be making decisions on Headington planning applications.
If you feel strongly about this, please write to the local press and sign the petition to
SAVE LOCAL DEMOCRACY!
The County has proposed to discontinue funding for 20 of its 43 libraries, but has not indicated clearly the criteria determining which libraries to cut. One reason that has been given is because there is a good bus route to Westgate Library
Full sets of figures for the County Library Service in terms of income, expenditure and usage county-wide are being obtained. We have details of income and expenditure for Bury Knowle Library.
Bury Knowle House is a grade II listed building, and the space within it is leased to the County Council. The lease was signed last year, and we have now obtained a copy of it. It appears that the County Council has the ability to terminate the agreement upon the giving of six months notice. The annual rent passing is in the sum of £16,300 per annum. Effectively the County has paid rent in advance up to March 2016 from which date annual rental payments would again commence, so the rent would be subject to review on 25th March 2016.
Our current information is that the City pays for maintenance/repair to the outside of the building and for the foyer and that the County pays for repairs to the interior of the library space – repairs to listed buildings can be expensive. We are checking this out.
Additional to the library space, the County rents a large staff workroom and a staff rest room.
The Library stock has been RFID security tagged ready for the introduction of a self-issue machine. This would mean that potentially the Library could be run using fewer staff if the linked RFID computer software is implemented. We have requested further details on this from County.
IT facilities are oversubscribed, and the children’s workstations are in high demand in the summer holidays. It is odd that this library has been earmarked for discontinuation of funding as its customer base and transaction statistics are very healthy. Local residents use it as central point for information on activities and events within the area (it is currently displaying the new play area equipment to be installed in Bury Knowle Park).
The income from overdue books and charges more or less pays for many expenditure items such as utilities, stationery, but not the £31K on books and £128K on staffing recorded in the most recent set of annual figures that we have available to us.
We are awaiting a response from County for information on the following:
The nature of any prospective ‘takeover’ is up for debate: could the City take over the running of the County libraries on a not-for-profit basis, for example? One hitch is that there is no wheelchair access to the building.
Ruth has approached the Bodleian, Oxford Brookes University and Ruskin College for possible help. The County Librarian is moving jobs in the spring of 2011.
There will be a public meeting on 11/1/11 at 20.00 at St Andrews School and there is a public petition which you can sign here
Clearly we would like to make a case for the County to reconsider its decision to discontinue funding for Bury Knowle Library. But we also need to have a Plan B, and before we can decide what that Plan B can look like, we need to have a greater understanding of what local people want from the Library and how they would like the space at Bury Knowle House to be used most effectively. We’d appreciate your comments on this!
Ideas about more creative use of the use of space at BKH given to us by local residents and staff so far include:
Another option that has been mooted is to move the library to another location so that it is cheaper to run, and Barton has been mentioned in this context, although our latest information is that the library is well-used by Wood Farm School too. Access to another venue using public transport might prove more difficult though.
If you have any comments, feel free to click on the comment button and add them here!
I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it tricky to keep up with all the consultations that are happening at the moment, especially as many are online and can be easily overlooked!
A pre-application briefing has been sent to residents groups by the University of Oxford relating to a prospective redevelopment of land at their Old Road Campus. A meeting will be held on 20/1/11 by the University with residents’ group reps. There is no application submitted to date, but if you want more details please contact your local residents’ group or get in touch with David or me
The City Council has a number of consultations happening right now. These include:
These can all be accessed via the City Council’s consultation page here.
Then there are the County’s consultations!
There will be an open meeting for Highfield residents to discuss the revised Highfield scheme on 6 JanuaryThe consultation on whether funding should be discontinued by the County Council for Bury Knowle Library will be held between March and May 2011.
We have called in the decision on increased car parking charges in the Headington District Centre (by double in one case!) for further scrutiny on 10 January. The paper showing these prospective increases can be accessed here – please click on the link from item 8 to view it. If you have any comments on this document please email either David or me as soon as possible
Here are just some of the Headington residents who braved the snow today in order to protest at the County Council’s proposal to close Bury Knowle Library
We have met Headington Action to discuss what can be done to safeguard library services in Headington. It is clear that more statistical and financial information is needed by the campaigners in order to help make a good business case for library services to continue, and this is being collated by county officers currently
Ruth has contacted the Team Leader in the Neighbourhoods and Communities Team at the City Council for community development advice and support. Many residents want the library to stay at Bury Knowle House and for the rest of the space to be used by the community for other needs. Suggestions for future action include a survey to find out what people want, and a public meeting at the start of the consultation process next March
Do you have any ideas about how the rest of Bury Knowle House could be used? Do you think there should be computers for internet access (and possibly adult education) there? Should it house an information point and refreshment area for users of the Park? Should there be meeting rooms for community groups? We must take into account that income may need to be generated in order to pay the lease on the building to Oxford City Council.
Please get in touch with David and Ruth with any good ideas!
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Cllr John Goddard, the Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet with responsibility for libraries, has set out the Liberal Democrat Group’s concerns about the proposals which could lead to 20 libraries being closed in the county. He said:
“Who cares about public libraries? I am not sure that the ruling Conservative clique in the County Council do.
“A library in 2010 is not a silent zone dedicated to book borrowing. It has become a social hub of the local community. It is where people of all sorts go for their stimulus to read, to view and to learn. It is where interests are developed, access to wider horizons is offered and, not to overstate the case, life made more worthwhile.
“The present proposals look as though they have been dreamt up in some bean-counting establishment where Charles Dickens’ Mr Gradgrind rules the roost. The cost of cutting library facilities is not to be measured by a bottom line: it will damage the society that lives by more than cash alone.
“For success a library needs easy access – not too costly to the user in terms of cash or time and not so rarely open as to be inconvenient. There has to be skilled management of the hardware: this could well be part time. There has to be properly maintained premises: this could well be shared with other community organisations including schools, children’s centres and youth clubs, community centres and health centres. For each community the best answer will be locally determined after full public involvement. This requires, immediately, open and full consultation, locally-based.
“At present the County Council plans to set a budget in February and to start consultation on the library closures in March. This will guarantee that the key decisions have been taken before consultation. Does this sound familiar to County Council watchers? Come on, County Hall! Show that in your book the big society involves listening, learning and local decision-making!”