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June 15, 2006
The Bookseller today -3
This is the third
15 June 2006
Tories urge councils to seize library control
Shadow Minister for Culture Hugo Swire has called on Conservative councils to sidestep the "lack of leadership" from central government and take the library crisis into their own hands. Speaking at a forum on libraries organised by the Tory party at the House of Commons this afternoon, he said: "We will be bringing together Conservative local authorities to develop a strategy for developing and improving the service that is delivered."
He criticised the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), and government agency the Museums, Libraries and Archives council (MLA) for an apparent lack of leadership. "If we don't have a vision, how can we ever achieve it?" he said.
Library campaigner and former Waterstone's m.d. Tim Coates, who also spoke at the forum, added that the Tories had a "tremendous opportunity". "Libraries are run by local councils. There is no need for the collective of Conservative Councils to take notice any longer of the dismal DCMS or the hapless MLA," he said. "I am proposing UDI [Unilateral Declaration of Independence]".
Earlier this week, Minister for Culture David Lammy came under fire at a debate hosted by the Royal Society of Literature. Authors accused him of failing to engage with the current library crisis.
katherine.rushton@bookseller.co.uk
Posted by Perkins at June 15, 2006 5:52 PM