If the community thinks this thru, they will
realize that they should not have to to come up
with the entire cost of running the library -
that is, 50K per year - but only the amount the
council expected to save - 17K -
or roughly 3 pounds per person per year....
surely an amount that would be easy to raise - as
the article points out that is less than one
return trip on the tube..
When we lived in Sacramento, a measure for a tax
assessment of something like $26 per property
with the money all going directly to the
libraries passed rather easily - after all, home
owners know that a library is an asset to the
value of their property - and the cost is
ridiculously small compared to the benefits....
Chris
At 8:47 AM +0000 1/29/06, Bruce Tober wrote:
My story: Making a noise for libraries
This page was created by the BBC. Updated: 27
Jan 2006 By BBC Action Network team
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:
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.
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.
--
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Christine Volk & Shep Iiams, Booksellers
P. O. Box 696, Ione CA 95640-0696
(209) 274-6960 chris@bookfever.com
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