Library Troubles

The BBC has published details of its investigation into the impact of budget cuts on our libraries. The report contains data from FOI requests to local authorities. It contains details from responses from 207 councils across the UK.It's not a positive picture.

• 343 libraries have closed
• A further 111 are planned this year
• The number of paid staff working in libraries has dropped by 25%. That’s 7933 less people than in 2010

Many libraries are only providing a service because community groups and volunteers have stepped in to keep them open. There are now 31,403 unpaid volunteers (a change from 15,861 in 2010). Having volunteers, is though, no replacement for the kind of services a professionally qualified librarian provides.

Library closures have been fewer in Scotland but the number of paid staff working in libraries has still fallen. With the upcoming cuts to local government budgets we believe that the worst is yet to come unless we can run effective campaigns against the cuts.

Glasgow hasn’t yet closed any libraries staffing levels have dropped from 360.1 to 287. Volunteer numbers have increased from 64 to 91
Edinburgh has again maintained building and mobile service numbers but staff numbers have dropped from 315 to 295. Volunteer numbers have increased from 239 to 258
Dundee again no actual closures but staff numbers have fallen from 117 to 102
West Dunbartonshire has closed two libraries/mobile libraries and staff numbers have fallen from 85 to 60
East Renfrewshire has closed no libraries but staff numbers have fallen from 67 to 52
North Lanarkshire no closures staff numbers have dropped from 344 to 305
The article allows you to find the results for your own local authority by clicking here

You can read UNISON's report on the impact of cuts on libraries
and our submission on why libraries matter here

A love letter to libraries

Herald columnist Catriona Stewart has written an absolutely brilliant love letter to libraries in today's paper.

She explains how public libraries helped her with her studies and a particular act of kindness from a librarian in the Mitchell Library. This eulogy continues to take in great libraries from Coatbridge to New York and beyond. Wherever you are libraries are a constant.

I particularly liked this:

"In a world where taking and selling are prime, librarians stand out. They exist only to give: to give the gift of knowledge and information and reading, which is the ultimate gift. If you are a reader the kingdom and everything in it is yours; librarians are the Ordnance Survey."

As the trade union that represents library staff, we could not have put it better.

This should be required reading for Scottish Ministers and councillors who are considering cutting the already depleted public library service.

 

The treasure that is our local libraries

The author Stephen McGinty has written a great piece in Saturday's Scotsman on the joys of rediscovering his local library. In fact more than that - the library has rekindled his passion for reading.

He sets out the range of services available in a modern library that explains why library useage is on the increase, even if the number of books taken out is down. It's also great value, as he says:

"Economists in a report published this week have calculated the monetary value of various sporting and cultural activities and what came out on top was that regularly visiting the library is, in terms of satisfaction, the equivalent of a pay rise of £1,359. By comparison, playing a team sport has a value of £1,127. This is a remarkable return on investment, as our library service costs us each about £21.90 a year in taxes."

I particularly liked the "rotating carousel containing the racier titles". I recall my time as NALGO Branch organiser in the 1980's, when the County Librarian used to have a cupboard in his office for books that had been the subject of complaints from sensitive readers. Times have changed!

He concludes:

"The green and blue cardboard library tickets of my childhood have long since been replaced by a plastic card, but it is still a key to a kingdom of riches. Economists may value a library at £1,359, but to me they are priceless."

We could not have put it better ourselves!

Libraries in peril

A survey of nearly 2000 library staff (including Scotland) by UNISON, reveals a service in jeopardy, with the public paying the price as they lose their local library or face increasing charges, dwindling opening hours and shrinking staffing levels in those that remain.

Library staff are working harder than ever to keep services running and report escalating stress levels as a result - one in four are stressed at work ‘most of the time’. This is hardly surprising given that 60% have seen full time job losses, and more than half (54%) have seen a reduction in part time posts. 79% say they are working harder to try to maintain the same level of service, whilst 57% say it is impossible to maintain the same level of service as existed before the coalition’s drastic cuts.

One third report that libraries have reduced their opening hours, and a third have introduced charges for services previously provided for free. Libraries are also placing limits on services, such as internet use, which is problematic for people who can’t afford a home computer and rely on library access to search and apply for jobs and benefits.

The position in relation to privatisation and reliance on volunteers is not as bad in Scotland yet. However, hard pressed councils are cutting library provision here and the coming budget round will no doubt see more proposals like those in Moray.

Great local campaigns like Love Moray Libraries illustrate why libraries have been at the heart of Scottish communities for more than a century. Lets keep it that way!