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October 8, 2007
Library Funding
Several people have said when looking at the league tables that one possible reason that a library authority is higher up the table is that the council spends more money on the libraries than the councils for the libraries lower down.
Indeed there is a general assumption that giving library authorities more money will make them better- more able to respond the needs of their community. In fact many would say it's so obvious that it must be true
But it isn't! In the league table for London the bottom ten library authorities have an average cost per resident of 26 pounds. The top ten authorities have an average cost per resident of 22 pounds
In other words if you took away 20% of the budget you would get a better library service. Or-- library authorities with too much money don't know how to spend it effectively
How often have I said it?
Shocking isn't it. Answers on a post card to Mr G Brown, 10 Downing St etc
Posted by Perkins at October 8, 2007 10:28 PM