Pippa
Pippa is fighting for her library
Each week on Action Network we meet people who have made a difference in
their local area.
Pippa Greensmith is campaigning to save the local library in Little
Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, a village at the end of the metropolitan tube
line.
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The first I really knew about the plans to close our library was when I
was asked to sign a petition.
The problem is Buckinghamshire council is short of £16m this year and
by closing eight libraries and replacing them with a mobile library,
they say each year they’ll save the equivelant of £17,000 per
library. It hardly seems much when they need £16m.
According to them fewer people are using libraries, and I’m an old
dinosaur because I still read books. However, I’ve never found it
empty. There are always people in there, from mothers with their
children to elderly people, and they also have two computers which are
always being used.
At a recent council meeting they played the sob story saying that they
must spend money on lighting and roads but have to make savings
somewhere. I can’t help sympathising with them. I recognise that they
don’t have all the money they need, but with libraries they are trying
to save on the wrong things.
Lending a hand
I quickly became involved with the campaign, sitting at the table
encouraging other people to sign the petition. We eventually got over
1,750 signatures.
There is a group of us who have been to see the head of local libraries.
We suggested three possible ways forward: first was to keep the library
as it is; second, to help them run it using volunteers; and finally to
take over the running of it.
Now we have only two weeks to come up with a viable two-year business
plan. It’s difficult because there are only about 5,000 people in
Little Chalfont with a village hall, a few local shops, a pub and the
post office - though we’re worried even that will go at some point.
We have looked at ideas like having a coffee shop in the library, or
negotiating to have the proposed parish council hire rooms at the back
of the library for their offices, but really we don’t think it’s
possible for a small community to run a library that needs £50,000 per
year.
Pippa
Will the library have to close?
Unfortunately the council have seized on the idea. They recently
announced that they are delighted that local residents were going to buy
the library. But we have never intended to buy the building and the land
from them, only to run it.
We would prefer to use volunteers and still have a qualified librarian
and access to the council’s book fund. But we’ve been told that
there are likely to be problems with unions if volunteers replace a
librarian. We know that they tried community-run libraries in
Cambridgeshire, but they haven’t been a great success and apparently
they are now considering closing their scheme.
Libraries on loan
The council say that we can always use the library in Amersham, only one
stop away on the tube. But it costs almost £5 return, which is a lot of
money if you’re elderly or not earning much. They’ve even suggested
using the library in Chorleywood, which is nearby but actually in
Hertfordshire. What cheek! Telling us to go and use the library in a
county that isn’t closing them.
I feel absolutely helpless and it makes you realise what other people
must go through when they are trying to save something in their area
that’s so dear to them.
We are now in touch with the other library support groups in the county
and we are starting to look at getting more publicity - like a recent
article in The Telegraph saying 50 libraries are threatened across the
country. I do hope we’re successful. Once they‘ve closed a library
it won’t come back. I think it’s terribly short-sighted.