If you read the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph or even The Bookseller Website, you might have seen the news about the Government’s concerns over many of the proposed library closures.
According to the reports, Whitehall sources claim the government is concerned some communities, particularly rural ones, may end up with no access to library services.
It goes on to express worries about the effects of the closures on children and the elderly.
Powers to intervene
The Sunday Times quoted one government source as saying, “At this stage we want to offer advice. We are reminding councils what their statutory responsibilities are. We can’t do anything during the consultation, which is still happening. We then have statutory powers to intervene if it is thought necessary.”
No response from council
As VB readers will already know, Ed Vaizey wrote to all local authorities back in December, reminding them of their statutory responsibilities.
We asked the IWC for a response to the article we published about the letter six days ago, but at time of publishing this article, have yet to receive a statement.
One Islander’s response
In response to the Government news, one Island resident has written to Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey. He copied VB in and was happy for us to share his letter with our readers.
Dear Mr Vaizey,
I read with interest today’s Daily Telegraph report about your plans to take direct control of libraries if councils cut back services too far.
I don’t know whether the Isle of Wight Council is one of those to you’ve written to about this. If it isn’t I strongly urge you to do so.
On the island we have 11 libraries, many in rural locations, and the Council intends to withdraw funding from nine of them. This puts us at the top of the national league table in percentage terms. So far the Council, although Conservative-controlled, has been deaf to the protests not only of huge numbers of residents, but also those of our MP Andrew Turner.
The island performs chronically badly in child literacy and general education league tables. We also have a high elderly population spread over a rural area with poor, expensive public transport. Taking away library support should be at the bottom of the list for cuts, not the top.
The Council has set its face against the kind of cuts being proposed by the Government – for example sharing a chief executive and back-office functions such as legal services. The closure of Tourist Information Centres, public toilets and the beach lifeguard service, as well as the destruction of our libraries, appears to be the preferred route. What plans there are to preserve a library service outside the two main towns rely on bands of well-meaning but frankly rather naive volunteers who see the job as rather like working in a charity shop.
Our normally sleepy island has seen an unprecedented wave of public anger at these proposals, as Mr Turner will tell you. I very much hope your Government can make a better job of listening than the ruling Group at County Hall, led by Cllr David Pugh and Cllr George Brown.
Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Young, Niton
Image: catnipstudio under CC BY 2.0
