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June 22, 2006
More closures in Yorkshire
The number of libraries to close in Calderdale looks set to rise from 5 to 10. As we found the other day people in Calderdale pay £4.5m pa for their library service which is about to be decimated, to save £30,000. It is hard to see from what the council are saying, exactly what it is all about. The question, as always, is "how many people in the library service work in offices, rather than at the library counter?"
The Bookseller reports
Five public libraries in West Yorkshire are set to close and another five are under review, bringing the total number of proposed closures up to 93 nationwide. Calderdale Council said it would replace five library branches with a combination of a mobile service and book stocks at local shops and pubs, with effect from September. The decision, which will save the council £30,000 a year, will be put forward for cabinet approval on Monday.
But councillor Amanda Byrne, who has responsibility for community services, was clear this was not a cost cutting measure: "The endgame is not to keep closing libraries. The endgame is to get the usage up," she said. "It is incumbent on councils to always make sure that they're getting the best value for money."
The council will target the five additional libraries under threat with new measures to boost visits but if they fail, they will also face closure."
It is indeed incumbent on councils to ensure they provide best value for money: but for the taxpayers, not the employees. The two ideas are not the same.
I'm sure somebody will tell me that in Yorkshire these days most taxpayers are employees of the government in some shape or form. Even so, it would be better for the librarians to sit in libraries that are open to the public than in offices which aren't.
Posted by Tim Coates at June 22, 2006 8:21 AM