'Library Review' and possible closures by Southwark Council

[James Barber]

Southwark Council is undertaking a 'library review'. The consultation process for the review includes a survey questionaire which will commence in all libraries next week, as well as an online version of the survey being available on the Council?s website. (I'll add the link to this when it become available).

The terms of reference for the review have been agreed as follows to:

- make recommendations for savings and efficiencies of a minimum of ?397,000 over the years 2012/13 and 2013/14 (potential library closures).

- review demand and usage patterns in order to determine appropriate choices for the future scale and nature of provision (potential library closures).

- consider and make recommendations on innovative methods of service delivery including through the delivery of other Council customer services

- maximise the use of ICT in terms of service delivery and as a service (books arnt very fashionable in Library services).

- consider what other services might be delivered from libraries (talk of coffee sales)

- review the impact of opening Canada Water Library on the total service offer (as it will cost more to run than the ROthehithe Library it replaces).

A public meeting is being held at each library which locally are:

05/07/2011 7pm to 8pm Kingswood Library

11/07/2011 7pm to 8pm Dulwich Library

13/07/2011 2pm to 3pm Grove Vale Library

PLEASE DO GO ALONG SO THAT THEY ARE VIEWED AS POPULAR. If we want to keep Dulwich Library opening 7 days a week people need to go along and tell them. IF you want to keep Grove Vale Library and kingswood Library do go along.

For background of what might be possible - http://jamesbarber.mycouncillor.org.uk/2011/03/22/expanding-libraries/

Following these ideas the current Library budget should allow for cuts and more opening hours.

What do you think should happen to our public libraries in Southwark?

[Renata Hamvas]

To those of you living East of the Rye, the Nunhead Library consultation is on 1st July at 7-8pm at Nunhead Library on Gordon Rd, SE15. Please come along and give your views ( This is important to preserve the library services YOU need!).

Renata

The full statement about this consultation is given below:

Have your say on the future of Southwark?s libraries

Published 21 June 2011

The borough?s residents and library users are to be asked their views on Southwark?s library service, with the launch of a borough-wide consultation.

It's part of a review to establish how Southwark Council can maintain a high quality library service, fit for the 21st century, in the face of unprecedented budget cuts.

Southwark Council is having to make savings of nearly ?400,000 in its library service over the next three years.

The council will be speaking to key groups such as community councils, and will be asking residents their views through public meetings and through a survey of library users launched next week (week beginning June 27).

Councillor Veronica Ward, cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics at Southwark Council, said:

"The financial challenges we are currently tackling spread right across the council and libraries are no exception. What I hope to do with this review is make sure people are fully informed of the situation but also able to see this as a potential opportunity to change the service for the better.

"This is why we are starting our review by speaking with our partners and key stakeholders, and listening to the public, as the future of our libraries is too important to get wrong."

The consultation will include an extensive library user survey, public meetings in every library, an online survey and attendance at community councils.

Members of the public who are unable to attend a meeting at their local library are welcome to attend any of the meetings outlined below.

Background Information

The survey starts in 11 libraries from Monday 27 June.

NOTE: The survey will start at Peckham Library later, on Friday 8 July and run for three weeks from then.

The survey will also be available at the following 12 public meetings, held across libraries throughout the borough:

East Street Library 29/06/2011 2pm - 3pm

Nunhead Library 01/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

Kingswood Library 05/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

Blue Anchor Library 06/07/2011 2pm - 3pm

John Harvard Library 07/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

Rotherhithe Library 08/07/2011 2pm - 3pm

Dulwich Library 11/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

Grove Vale Library 13/07/2011 2pm - 3pm

Camberwell Library 13/07/2011 6pm - 7pm

Newington Library 14/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

Brandon Library 15/07/2011 2pm - 3pm

Peckham Library 19/07/2011 7pm - 8pm

All of these meetings are open to the public and will give local people an opportunity to put forward their views about the library service and make suggestions about how savings could be achieved. There is no need to book your place in advance.

[reggie]

ooh "books arnt very fashionable in Library services" that's a bit of a corker James.

Lest we forget...we love libraries.

[Renata Hamvas]

I hope you will come to the consultation at your local library Reggie!

Renata

[kford]

"Southwark Council is having to make savings of nearly ?400,000 in its library service over the next three years."

Cost of the Grove Vale 'improvements': ?500,000.

Just thought I'd mention it.

[Sheepdog]

lets also mention;

1 Labour councillors deciding to massively increase southwark's reserves at the last budget hearing

2 ?6 million being spent on Burgess Park

Hard to know which is more disgraceful!

[languagelounger]

Pls forgive my ignorance, perhaps the Councillor could answer this, but how are libraries currently funded? Which Council department or departments fund them and how are they categorised? Are they "leisure" or "education" or both?

[Loz]

Don't forget the ?2m per year programme to feed middle class and rich kids. Quite possibly the stupidest recession-time policy in the UK (and that's against some pretty stiff competition.)

[James Barber]

Hi languagelounger,

Current library funding comes from Leisure dept.

I'm hopeful the current model of libraries is drastically changed. The budget is large enough to increase opening hours, reinstroduce home book service for housebound residents and save the sums being asked.

Our libraries are open collectively for 518 hours per week. The budget is ?8M in the last statement given to me by the head of leisure incl. libraries. That's ?15,444 for each hour that a library is open. Even our biggest libraries would only have half a dozen staff covering them so must have huge overheads.

Any librarians out there?

[ianr]

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> Our libraries are open collectively for 518 hours per week. The budget is ?8M in the last statement

> given to me by the head of leisure incl. libraries. That's ?15,444 for each hour that a library is open.

8,000,000 / (518 x 52) -> 297.00 (pounds per library-hour)

[Smiler]

Hope the agenda isn't to get rid of librarians and invite volunteers to run libraries instead (as is happening in some councils).

[James Barber]

Hi ianr,

Thanks for correcting my silly mistake.

average of 4 libraries on duty for each hour - still implies more than double the necessary run rate even allowing for huge book buying.

Hi Smiler,

Agreed. I hope that each library is left to be managed locall with local user groups to focus on devolving running a great service and attracting more users from their popularity. In Hilllingdon they've seen step increase in people using their libraries, increased the number of libraries, renovated their libraries while decreasining the budget.

[ianr]

I'm not sure how useful a statistic the cost per open-library-hour is anyway. It conflates running costs, capital outlay, and overheads. Given that the staff and fuel costs of keeping even the largest library open will be a lot less than ?297 per hour, the logical thing to do to reduce it would be to increase opening hours (and the annual cost).

There's a Tim Coates (as mentioned in James's blog, linked-to above) paper from 2004, "Who?s in Charge?", downloadable from http://www.rwevans.co.uk/libri/downloads.htm, which at least gives an idea of the type of his arguments. I'd recommend looking at it too for some of his statistics, including the Appendix showing specific costs for a county library, though the proposals there seem me well-intentioned hand-waving, possibly very practicable but without enough convincing detail. Do any of the videos of any of his (presumably more recent) presentations go further?

I'm reluctant to be a 'consultee' on Southwark's own service without having more facts as to their specific costs. Are they available anywhere?

Related to that question, I did see yesterday, I think perhaps in the latest Southwark News, a public announcement about the forthcoming annual audit. It mentioned the public right, within a specified time window, to examine any of the accounting documents presented for the audit, and to ask the auditors questions about them. I can today find NOTHING so far on the Southwark council website resembling this announcement. Is it hidden somewhere or perhaps not available there, or have I been careless?

[Undisputedtruth]

How much money would the libraries make if they allowed Starbucks/Caffe Nero on their premises?

[James Barber]

Hi Undisputedtruth,

I would imagine 12 Starbucks or similar franchises making more than ?400,000 profit and meeting the savings target.

But i think the top down library service isn't galvanising enough local support. I think the Simpson's approahc might be better at giving a great customer focused service and get more people in the doors enoughing books.

[Pugwash]

All the boroughs are reviewing their library provisions, a friend is very involved in the only independent library locally - The Upper Norwood Library- and he is in great demand as to talk to loal councils as to how his committee runs a library much cheaper than LA. His answer is to cut back many of the managerial posts in the Library service without cutting back on librarians and resources.

I rarely get music or CDs out of Dulwich Library and usually have about 10 books on the go each month - rather than to use the library service I would be happy to see an early closure one evening a week (say 6 pm), I would also be happy to pay an annual subscription of around ?26 to assist with financing.

Many out of London libraries are charging ?1 per day per item for overdue items and only open weekdays so we are lucky up here. Unfortunately we will be on holiday on 11th July but will pass the word round.

James, if you want to meet up with my friend and are around Camberwell early evening or lunch time I can probably sort something out.

[Undisputedtruth]

Hi James,

Over the last 12 months I've been using the Lewisham Library services and they reviewed their services since July last year with two rounds of public consultations and briefings for each library.

What I don't like is the lack of information given by Southwark and this is likely to result in meaningless consultations. At least with Lewisham they gave library usage numbers, library issues and cost of refurbishments on their briefings. Are we also going to be subjected to a weighted survey? One of the main problems with Southwark is the lack of quality books and ordering books through the inter library loan is ridiculously expensive at ?2 when compared to 50p by Lewisham. Even trying to get the latest copy of Which magazine can be incredibly difficult or just impossible.

UDT

[Fuschia]

I find the library very responsive and they hsve bought books suggested

I think maximising lettings for their rooms upstairs and maybe. Season ticket allowing free use of DVDs and other VIP facilities might be one approach while still keeping the library free to all

It would be a shMe to see reduced opening or lOse a library

[Fuschia]

If the upstairs room at dulwich isn't used weekend afternoons I wonder if library book themed parties could be offered

[James Barber]

Inter library loans are a perenial problem. When I've ordered books they sometime never appear.

Several other councils have devolved all book purchasing to individual libraries. The library orders them direct and have them the following day if in print or use second hand service called for similar out of print speed of obtaining a book. Eliminates the need for inter library loans and when customers get such a great srevice they come back more often.

This also cuts out a whole back office team that add delay to fulfilling actual demand.

So I see lots of back office savings that should mean Southwark libraries can be open MORE than they currently are.

[PeckhamRose]

It's not librarians who choose the books for their libraries anymore.

Neither are the staff (all) very well educated in literature matters. I once asked for a book by a well known writer who happened to be female and was told matter of factly that the feminist section was 'over there'. And there was not one Chekov play in the whole of Southwark libraries so I bought my Chekov from Cheners for ?2.

Libraries have been going downhill for years. It's sad. My first job out of school was in a library where no advertising posters for anything was allowed, no religious meetings, no political advertising, just books books books.

Mind you, computers had not been installed either and we had to put things in alphabetical order. Remember those days?

If librarians can't choose which books are bought for the libraries anymore, in many cases keen volunteers would probably do a better job of running the show. They'd need to be covered - insurance wise - for when kids come though. Kids have to get their music and Playboy games from somewhere.

And I can't believe I wrote that!

[kford]

They'd be much more popular if they stocked Playboy games.

[dukesdenver]

I too would like to see some detailed numbers relating to library usage and spending. James, is there anything you can post here? (Like how much the library service spends on postage for letters notifying you that reservations are ready for collection - they could save a bit there by sending emails instead!)

I've never understood why each library can't buy at least some of its own books. If nothing else the latest releases would reach the shelves a lot quicker and they could respond quickly to sudden spikes in demand e.g. when prize shortlists are announced.

It's tough for libraries because whatever you do, someone won't like it. I'm a bit of a traditionalist; I just want lots of books and a bit of peace and quiet. Others want CDs and DVDs and cappuccinos. Can one size fit all?

[Otta]

James Barber Wrote:

reinstroduce home book

service for housebound residents

I am absolutely stunned that this service has been stopped in the first place. Through my work, I constantly see what a life line the home library service is to many elderly and disabled people!

[James Barber]

Sorry your heard this news from me Otta. Ideally home boooks service would be run from each librsty - this is the ONE area I think volunteers would be great in supporting the library service.