A LEADING Croydon councillor has slammed Upper Norwood library campaigners for publishing unsubstantiated rumours the library would close this year. Jerry Green reports.
On page four of its January newsletter the Upper Norwood library campaign – which puts posters announcing committee meetings around the area headed ‘Save Upper Norwood library’ – states:
“RUMOUR: Upper Norwood joint library (UNJL) will close in 2010.
RUMOUR:If the Tories get in in Croydon and Lambeth UNJL will become a branch library.
RUMOUR Croydon are serious about pulling out of the UNJL joint agreement”.
But Clllr Eddy Arram – vice chairman of the committee which oversees the library – angrily denounced the claims at the library’s joint committee meeting on Wednesday January 27th.
Referring to the campaign newsletter as ‘rags like this’ he called for the rumours to be withdrawn immediately.
“One of the reasons the library is not succeeding as well as it should do is the negativity and the actual lies that are being pushed around. It undermines not only this committee but worse – it undermines the staff”
(At this point Cllr Arram was interrupted from the floor by CPCA chairman John Payne who said: “Arrant nonsense. This is divisive deliberately”)
Cllr Arram told the meeting misinformation about the library which had been going on the Internet for many years was having a negative effect.
He said when he was committee chairman (2008 – 2009) people were reading information which was three or more years out of date – and not joining the library because they thought it was going to close.
“When they found it was open they marvelled at the services and realised the information was negative.
“The resources we have may not be as much as we’d like but this library is providing a good service to all its people and doing it within a financial constraint to a very good level.
“Last year it was only a couple of thousand pounds overspent. This year it’s on target. It says a lot for the way the staff has been working. It’s a pity rags like this don’t acknowledge this and the efforts put in by both councils.”
He said chief librarian Bradley Millington was doing an excellent job with a limited amount of money.
“He has taken the lead over and above providing services in this library ahead of Croydon and Lambeth. We’ve got self service which some people think is shocking – but it allows staff to provide extra services within the library. It’s a positive step forward.
“Every library needs to look at what its neighbour is doing and learn from that. Libraries in Lambeth and Croydon can learn from Upper Norwood” he added.
Library campaigner Pam Gray insisted that what was written was “properly researched”. The rumours were verbal rumours, she added.
She told Cllr Arram: “You obviously feel very aggrieved at these rumours but they come from within Croydon borough. We don’t know if it was Croydon officers or members of the public but we heard these rumours and that’s why they were reported”.
Mr Payne – a co-opted member of the UNJL committee – said there was no shortage of money in Croydon – except when it came to funding the library. “We are not being treated fairly by Cllr Arram and other councillors on this committee” he declared.
Support for Cllr Arram (Con. Ashburton) came from an unlikely quarter. Library campaigner Richard Francis said the front page of the campaign’s newsletter was “extremely positive”. He had opened it with bated breath only to be disappointed from page two to its end. “It was negativity” he added.
CUTBACKS IN local government funding could hit Upper Norwood joint library even harder than other libraries, the meeting was warned.
Cllr Graham Pycock said there was a danger that someone in Croydon and someone in Lambeth could suggest a four, five or 10 per cent cut across the board for budgets of individual libraries.
That would mean cuts in Upper Norwood’s budget being made at even higher levels than other libraries because of previous underfunding.
His comments came as the meeting discussed a written report which showed that in the 2007 – 8 financial year Upper Norwood library’s cost of service per 1,000 population was £12,117 – compared to a Greater London average of £23,534.
Cllr Robert Askey (Con. South Norwood) said there was a significant trend across London where library authorities were having to make very, very serious cuts and find very serious savings – and not just in Croydon and Lambeth.
Issues like the housebound service were not provided by Upper Norwood library but were provided in Croydon by Croydon library services. He accepted it was a very small matter but it was one of the factors that had to come into the funding.
“I’m slightly concerned when I hear figures about linking it to what a library authority spends proportionately.
“If Croydon decided to make savings and it was going to cut its library service you wouldn’t want that cut to be replicated – you’d want that grant to be looked at separately” he added.
Cllr Pycock (Con. Gipsy Hill) said: “We are a joint sub-committee of both council cabinets. We’re obliged to say what this particular library needs this year.”
The next meeting of the committee takes place on Thursday March 3rd.
HISTORICAL NOTE: The library, established in 1898 as an equally-funded facility, opened on July 4th 1900. The principle of equal funding was reaffirmed in both the 1922 and 1994 agreements.
In the 26 years since the start of unequal funding in 1984/5 equal funding had been achieved only once. The library currently has 11 staff in full time employment and is currently carrying two vacancies.
A copy of the report can be found by logging on to www.croydon.gov.uk, typing in ‘Upper Norwood library’. The report can be found under the agenda and minutes for January 25, 2010.
Related posts:
