Threat of library closures

[Dizzy]

Nope  

[Evil Sid]

It must have been hushed up as i didn't hear about it. Then again it is a library they are good at that sort of thing.

[Sha]

Very good Sid!

However the proposals for 'activities' as an integral part of library services will certainly put an end to the 'quiet library' tradition.

[Gary]

Be interesting to see the council's take on the library situation at full council on Monday

[Evil Sid]

Are you allowed to peek in the brown envelopes then?

[Sha]

Now, now Sid!       

[Sha]

The only thing WBC will be doing at Monday's meeting is making a list of the points of objection which they can then form counter arguments to.

The best thing to do now is to let them forge ahead with their plans putting both feet well and truly in.

They can then find out the hard way the real meaning of "lessons have been learned"!

[Dizzy]

Maybe so Sha but if the council do nothing and back these plans and the changes are implemented then it will be really hard, if not near impossible, to go back to what was there before especially if buildings have been closed, sold on or whatever. 

The council need to think very long and very hard LONG TERM about any decision they may make regarding this and maybe they even need to come up with some long term plan or solution of their own...maybe taking back control themselves for now, so at least the library services are protected, could be a start until a much better proposal, future and way forward can be found even it that may involve outsourcing them once again further down the line.

I really don't think Livewire are up to the job or have a huge amount of interest in our current libraries to be homes as it seems to me that libraries have taken second stage back seat to their plans for their gyms/leisure facilities and other ventures like modern day 'hubs' all of which seem to have had a lot of financial input, upgrading and pushing forward since they took over control but like I said very little support or thought for the libraries themselves.

By hey maybe I just don't get it and external/government type funding is more freely available for the likes of gyms/leisure facilities but not for libraries.  Who knows....but it will be very interesting to see what comes out of Monday's meeting.

Tricky one though I suppose but  

[Dizzy]

Are you allowed to peek in the brown envelopes then?

I doubt even Gary would be allowed to do that :lol: ....should these sort of 'alleged' envelopes actually exist of course  

[Paul Kennedy]

The only thing WBC will be doing at Monday's meeting is making a list of the points of objection which they can then form counter arguments to.

The best thing to do now is to let them forge ahead with their plans putting both feet well and truly in.

They can then find out the hard way the real meaning of "lessons have been learned"!

Or more likely is that WBC's current administration will blame the current government for cuts........

[Sha]

Or more likely is that WBC's current administration will blame the current government for cuts........

I'm sure WBC will try to blame it on government cuts, but as they are spending money on their pet projects like it was going out of fashion, I don't think any excuses will wash, do you?

[Sha]

On today's news-page.

Steven Broomhead quotes on the issue of the town’s libraries (firstly)  “ I think we’ll re-engineer all the provisions of the library”

(later)  “I think when we come to the conclusion, following the consultation, we’ll see different format for libraries for the future”………… 

“We asked Livewire to reduce their budget.”…………

 “We’re trying to think through what the best future is for our space which is currently called the library” ………..

 

Two feet in it already!      

[Janeswl]

Do not agree with Steven's conclusions, have just emailed him to point out a few facts he seems to be unaware of.  Suggest as many people as possible come tonight to the Full Council Meeting at 7pm or earlier if you want to joint the campaign group. Rumour has it that the BBC will be there. The LiveWire "brainwashing machine" is very powerful, if they patented it they could use the money to buy more books, newspapers, longer opening hours, recruit more management with Library expertise etc.

[Sha]

Janeswl, It's obvious from Steve Broomhead's comments that WBC intend to forge ahead with their plans to "re-engineer all the provisions of the library" and to try to destroy the beautiful interior of the town centre library.

Tonight's meeting is merely an attempt to fool the public (and others) into thinking there has been an adequate public consultation.

Whatever it may appear the outcome of the meeting is tonight, don't think they will be diverting from their plans.

 

It is still important for people to attend, if only for the publicity it generates, but be careful not to be taken in by what councillors or  officers say. There's a saying 'more faces than the town clock' and past experience has always proved this to be an apt description.

I don't know if you were one of the protesters against the sell off of Walton Hall & Gardens, but at a meeting in front of over 200 people numerous councillors made heart rending speeches and promised faithfully not to do anything before there had been a full public consultation - yet within minutes they went behind closed doors and unanimously voted to go full steam ahead with the sell off plans!  (all the disgusting details are recorded in the council minutes for anyone to read).

They were however eventually defeated by the protesters and will be this time too.

 

What WBC don't expect is sustained opposition and the public being prepared to fight as dirty as their opposition. WBC has an awful lot to lose and if they don't drop their plans to destroy the town centre library they will lose and a lot more than the 'pennies' they hope to save from making cuts to library services.  

[Gary]

My reporters tells me the number of people who are campaigning to save the libraries who attended tonight's meeting was "about 20."

I don't want to see any libraries close.

I believe they are an important part of community life.

But I also realise we are living in a changing world.

It is easy to get thousands of people signing online petitions.

It is sadly not easy getting people to use libraries - and even less easy to get them to turn out in huge numbers on a cold night to show the strength of feeling.

I used to love reading books - the sad fact of the world we live in now is that less and less people are reading books - and this number will continue to reduce even if we had a library on every street corner with thousands of books to choose from.

Having said all that - £300k to retain the status quo is a small drop in the ocean.

[grey_man]

My reporters tells me the number of people who are campaigning to save the libraries who attended tonight's meeting was "about 20."

I don't want to see any libraries close.

I believe they are an important part of community life.

But I also realise we are living in a changing world.

It is easy to get thousands of people signing online petitions.

It is sadly not easy getting people to use libraries - and even less easy to get them to turn out in huge numbers on a cold night to show the strength of feeling.

I used to love reading books - the sad fact of the world we live in now is that less and less people are reading books - and this number will continue to reduce even if we had a library on every street corner with thousands of books to choose from.

Having said all that - £300k to retain the status quo is a small drop in the ocean.

Actually Gary, sales of printed books are increasing as sales of ebooks decline. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/12/books-are-back-printed-book-sales-rise-for-first-time-in-four-ye/

 

Apart from that, it is obvious that the library is an important resource for local communities based solely on visitor numbers. Like you suggest, the council has £20 million to spend on new offices for itself, as well as the loan of money to its puppet organisations to prop up loss making 'hubs' and even more money to hide the facts. Perhaps if Steve Broomhead hadn't used so much public money to taxi himself to Wembley, initiate silly office schemes in California and defend his racist jokes while he was at the NWDA, he'd be more aware that tarting the council's plans up with management speak wouldn't work. As it is, nobody seems willing to speak out for residents, except for residents themselves.

 

We have Russ Bowden openly lying to residents about the council's plans and other councillors indulging in the practice of triangulation that infuriates voters so much as described by Sha. When are they going to learn?

[Bazj]

Actually Gary, sales of printed books are increasing as sales of ebooks decline. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/12/books-are-back-printed-book-sales-rise-for-first-time-in-four-ye/

 

Apart from that, it is obvious that the library is an important resource for local communities based solely on visitor numbers. Like you suggest, the council has £20 million to spend on new offices for itself, as well as the loan of money to its puppet organisations to prop up loss making 'hubs' and even more money to hide the facts. Perhaps if Steve Broomhead hadn't used so much public money to taxi himself to Wembley, initiate silly office schemes in California and defend his racist jokes while he was at the NWDA, he'd be more aware that tarting the council's plans up with management speak wouldn't work. As it is, nobody seems willing to speak out for residents, except for residents themselves.

 

We have Russ Bowden openly lying to residents about the council's plans and other councillors indulging in the practice of triangulation that infuriates voters so much as described by Sha. When are they going to learn?

 

and at the next election, they will all be voted back in again, regardless

[Freeborn John]

and at the next election, they will all be voted back in again, regardless

Around here they elect the rosette not the candidate, the 'if they were good enough for my granddad' factor.

Well, that spell is due to break. 

[Paul Kennedy]

Around here they elect the rosette not the candidate, the 'if they were good enough for my granddad' factor.

Well, that spell is due to break. 

It already has, Brexit being a local example where a majority of those who voted in Warrington, voted to leave, Mr Trump and the Italian Referendum being the two international examples.......

[Paul Kennedy]

and at the next election, they will all be voted back in again, regardless

Ay....and as is often said, we have elections and the Council/Government always wins....by that it means the establishment....in its various forms wins....eventually......so as with Brexit, where the establishment doesn't initially win, it fights back....and eventually gets its way.

[Paul Kennedy]

I'm sure WBC will try to blame it on government cuts, but as they are spending money on their pet projects like it was going out of fashion, I don't think any excuses will wash, do you?

and true to form, they did....not sure that the petition was welcomed really:  

 

"In response Councillor Anthony Higgins said that the council would take time to fully digest, process and understand fully the findings of the report and only then would they make it openly available.

He added that he welcomed the petition and thanked the organisers and those who had signed the petitions for giving the cause heart. He assured them he was himself an advocate for library’s (sic) but that they should understand that the proposals were exactly that and not a done deal.

He added that all authorities were struggling to cope with the unprecedented cuts the Government had imposed upon them".

[Paul Kennedy]

Actually Gary, sales of printed books are increasing as sales of ebooks decline. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/12/books-are-back-printed-book-sales-rise-for-first-time-in-four-ye/

 

 

....funnily enough I bought a couple of books at the airport the other week....the first for a long time.........Ken Clarke's  Kind of Blue and Nicholas Shaxson's Treasure Islands - Tax havens and the men who stole the world.

[grey_man]

....funnily enough I bought a couple of books at the airport the other week....the first for a long time.........Ken Clarke's  Kind of Blue and Nicholas Shaxson's Treasure Islands - Tax havens and the men who stole the world.

 

Sales of vinyl are higher than downloads too. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38221420

[grey_man]

and true to form, they did....not sure that the petition was welcomed really:  

 

"In response Councillor Anthony Higgins said that the council would take time to fully digest, process and understand fully the findings of the report and only then would they make it openly available.

He added that he welcomed the petition and thanked the organisers and those who had signed the petitions for giving the cause heart. He assured them he was himself an advocate for library’s but that they should understand that the proposals were exactly that and not a done deal.

He added that all authorities were struggling to cope with the unprecedented cuts the Government had imposed upon them".

 

'library's?'

 

Exactly why we need them. I understand this is not your mistake Paul but a cut and paste?

 

As for the cuts, we all know the council is having to make difficult decisions. Like choosing the sorts of desks, chairs and artworks they'd like for their new offices? 

[Paul Kennedy]

'library's?'

 

Exactly why we need them. I understand this is not your mistake Paul but a cut and paste?

 

As for the cuts, we all know the council is having to make difficult decisions. Like choosing the sorts of desks, chairs and artworks they'd like for their new offices? 

I have duly edited my original cut and paste post....with a bit of Latin.