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July 3, 2006
From Nick Arnold
Very pleasing today to get a comment from Nick Arnold - who introduces himself
"Congratulations, Tim on your magnificent blog. I am a children's author currently campaigning against the closure of Appledore Library in Devon and I read this entry with special interest.
Isn't it odd that contradictory factors should be conflated when Devon decided which library to close?
In Appledore we have a community that everyone agrees is deprived and one would have thought that one consequnce of this deprivation is lack of money to pay for transport. Nonethless Appldore was still deemed
a candidate for closure becasue it has an adequate bus service and other libraries are nearby. Surely if people can't afford the bus these other libraries might as well be on the Moon!
And come to think about it isn't it odd that Dorset - a neighbouring local authority drew up its closure list in a completely differnt way? Are libraries now to close because a quirk in methodology that varies from county to county? Why is that the library professionals cannot actually tell me what they mean by a non-viable library? I will be talking through these points with the Councillor and Librarian involved.
One other thing - there are small signs that Devon is preparing to listen to public opinion libary on closures and this seems to be supported by the tone of Janet Kipling's e-mail. I'm telling the story of our campaign in Appledore at
Saveourlibrary.blog.co.uk
And I'll certainly let you know what happens in this corner of Devon."
Nick, thank you. If I can be of any help in informing your discussion with Devon CC, please say. It is possible by working with library suppliers to make a dramatic reduction in the cost of administering the library service and all this is available for DCC if they wish to pursue it. There is no reason either to close services or reduce them and the best outcome of this past few weeks will be to produce a plan for big improvements. They are certainly possible. If it would help if I came down for a day, I would be delighted. Tim
Posted by Perkins at July 3, 2006 3:37 PM
Comments
Would I love to go to Devon with you, Tim! Reading these entries, I feel a long way away, here in Massachusetts. But I lived in Totnes--actually, in a nearby village called South Brent--for several months in 1991 and can so easily visualize the communities there that need their libraries. Best of luck to you all.
Posted by: Karen Christensen at July 3, 2006 9:48 PM