Well, me actually.
The cuts have come around yet again. I have been very lucky – I was very unlucky last time – and will not be losing my job or, in fact, any working hours. But others will.
Our management has been telling us there is no alternative.
They are lying.
The library service can’t just do what it wants, it is subject to a vote in the council cabinet. There are councillors in this city who are fighting the cuts and offering an alternative to save the money, so I am urging all those at risk to see their local councillor and try to get him or her on board with this. There is nothing to lose by speaking to them, but a lot to gain – it might just save their jobs.
Does anyone care? No. They can’t be bothered. They say: “The library service will just do whatever it wants” – well, yeah it will if you don’t stand up and say something, you idiots!
And as for Philip Pullman, he is convinced his is a noble cause. And it is. But it isn’t relevant for all authorities. Our council is not closing any libraries. They are proposing to keep all libraries open, but with a skeleton staff, limited stock, the bare minimum of opening hours and managers that are only there part of the time because they have two libraries to run at the same time.
In this city, we have one suburb with two libraries just five minutes apart and a third library ten minutes away in the next area north. Meanwhile, on my side of town, there is a library that is serving three suburbs and is about to lose 11 opening hours a week, having already lost 8 hours earlier this year.
Wouldn’t it be preferable to just close one library and save all the others?
Posted on October 13, 2011
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