Latest news with #libraryservices
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Librarian cuts 'deeply damaging' to Glasgow schools
Proposals to remove librarians from every Glasgow secondary school would be "deeply damaging" to the sector, a body for the profession has warned. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) has written to Glasgow City Council expressing "significant concerns" over the local authority's Life, which manages the service on behalf of Glasgow City Council, would place an assistant in each of the city's high schools instead, in a move to save CILIPS say this step would "de-professionalise a vital service" and affect the quality of the service. In a letter to Glasgow Life from Sean McNamara, CILIPS's director, the body say the library cuts would "further create a growing divide in social class and opportunity." A council-approved review of library services in February 2024 targeted savings of £100,000, a move which CILIPS claimed has put Glasgow libraries into an impossible position. Glasgow Life has argued the plan will increase access to school libraries citywide by 27%, by raising the number of hours when facilities have some form of staffing, even though it would remove 16 roles in total from the school McNamara said: These proposals would be deeply damaging to the education of young people and would de-professionalise a vital service. "School librarians support curriculum delivery, help raise attainment and literacy level and must be protected nationally and locally. "This £100k pre-agreed cut leaves the service with little option but to find damaging cuts, and we believe the only way to avoid diminishing the service significantly would be to reverse this financial decision urgently." 'No compulsory redundancies' In the letter to the Glasgow Life board, Mr McNamara wrote: "Librarians are specialists in matters of media and information literacy, ethics, and censorship, and with a recent rise of book banning requests it is vital that school librarians are in place in schools to provide their expertise."He added that Glasgow Life should reconsider whether the £100,000 saving was librarian body should be treated as singular nA Glasgow Life spokesperson previously said: "Glasgow Life is bound by Glasgow City Council's commitment to no compulsory redundancies."Should the proposal be approved, affected staff will have the opportunity to apply for promoted positions or be redeployed into available vacant roles commensurate with their existing pay and grade."The spokesperson added that funding available to provide school library books and other resources would remain above the Scottish with trade unions on the proposals are already under way.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
North Somerset council to consider almost 500k in library cuts
Funding for libraries in North Somerset could be cut by almost £500,000, according to the local Somerset Council will spend around £2.25m in the next year on its library services, but it said it must make cuts of at least £443,000 over three years starting from 2026, a cut of around 20%.It is now looking to approve a public consultation on 18 June, which would ask residents how the future of libraries looks in the council said while its library service is "well-loved", it wants to ensure it adapts amid rising costs and lower funding. A spokesperson for North Somerset said a 12-week consultation over the summer will ask residents how community outreach can be improved, what adjustments could be made to opening hours, and how services can be maintained with less service has 10 local libraries, a community library in Congresbury and a mobile service which visits 27 places. There is also a delivery service and a digital library on member for culture, leisure and open spaces, Councillor Mike Solomon said: "Our libraries are more than buildings – they're community hubs, safe spaces, and gateways to knowledge. "I want to stress that we remain fully committed to providing a quality library service that meets our statutory responsibilities and is fair, accessible and future-proof."He added: "No final decisions will be made until we've heard from our communities and residents."
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Work to start on delayed Bishop Auckland leisure centre
Work on a new leisure centre will start in the summer following facility, which will be built next to Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre in Bishop Auckland, will combine sports and library services in one place, Durham County Council will have two accessible swimming pools, a sauna and a 'move hub', with equipment for people who need to improve strength and centre will be built on the site of the current Woodhouse Close Library, which will be demolished. Plans for the project, which was priced at £26.6m, were approved in 2023. It was then delayed due to issues with a gas pipe underneath the leisure centre, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. The council is funding the building, along with a £2.75m contribution from Sport centre will also include soft play centre and a Joe Quinn, Cabinet member for resources, investment and assets, said: "The new venue will bring leisure and library services together in a single, modern site with new features to make our services accessible to all ages and abilities and support community wellbeing." The library will close from Saturday, with a click-and-collect service available at Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
RNZ News
02-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Napier City Council backtracks on proposed library closure
Napier Library will remain open for at least five days a week. Photo: Tom Kitchin After facing public backlash over a proposal to close Napier Library, the council has decided to keep it open. In a bid to save ratepayers, the council proposed shutting Napier Library for two years until the new library was built. However, after widespread push back from residents , the council has backtracked and will keep the library open at least five days a week. "The submissions were clear that people think the library is an important community asset, and they were willing to pay slightly more rates as a result. Reducing its days of opening will still help keep the rates increase low," Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said. Local independent bookstore owner Gareth Wardini is one of many who wanted to see the library stay open, and told RNZ he was thrilled with the outcome. "I'm delighted it is going to stay open because I think it's a core resource and a place for many people to teach themselves to read, teach kids to read and enjoy books," he said. Gareth and Louise Wardini. Photo: Supplied / Florence Charvin Napier City Council received 1007 submissions on its annual plan, the highest feedback in 10 years, and 67 percent of respondents wanted the library kept open for as long as possible. Wardini said it was evident the council had listened. "A lot of the community signed petitions and made it clear they wanted to keep the library - fair play to the council as they've listened and done what people wanted," Wardini said. The proposed interim closure of Napier Library would have meant a saving of $620,730 for 2025/26 rates. But the future of the National Aquarium is not so clear - the council's preferred option is to demolish the old aquarium and build a new one to the tune of about $28 million. The council said this facility would be cheaper to operate, however, only 17 percent of submissions supported this move. An alternative option is for the council to hand the aquarium's operation to a third party, and the council will now develop a business case for another round of public consulation. Decisions will be final when the council adopts its 2025/26 annual plan in late June. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
What will Suffolk council library takeover mean?
Library services in Suffolk are set to be taken back under control by the county council on Sunday. An independent charity had been running them for the previous 12 years. What will the change mean for people? Why is this happening? Suffolk Libraries had run the service since 2012 across 45 to renew its contract with the council started in November but broke down in Faircloth-Mutton, the Conservative councillor responsible for libraries, said he "no longer had confidence in Suffolk Libraries' financial viability or management".Bruce Leeke, chief executive of Suffolk Libraries, said his team was "incredibly shocked" and "disappointed".The council said the charity had proposed unacceptable terms, including reducing opening hours by 30%.Faircloth-Mutton also raised concerns about the cost of the charity's head office and senior Leeke responded: "We currently have one of the best run library services in the country which has saved millions of pounds of taxpayers' money." What was the reaction? About 23,000 people signed a petition opposing the move and protests were held outside the council's headquarters and some libraries. Rachel Wood, a library user from Newmarket, said she was "horrified" by the decision."We must not let Suffolk County Council throw something away that has helped so many people," she said. Opposition councillors opposed the Conservative-led council's Green, Liberal Democrat and independent group said a public consultation should have been held, while Labour questioned how the change would save supported the council's decision and said services were best run and delivered by the Dorsett, Unison's eastern regional organiser, said the union wanted to ensure "terms and conditions remain protected". Will libraries be closing? The council says no, they have no plans to close any of the libraries and opening hours will not change. Faircloth- Mutton said that services would be "as usual"."Sites will be open, mobile library vans will be touring our villages and it will be the service that people know and love across Suffolk." What could change? Branding appears to be the main thing. Logos are likely to change, as are some contact details like email addresses. The council said there would be some new social media accounts with others rebranded and there would be a new will not need a new library card, their current one will work, however when they expire different ones will be said there would be an investment of "£200,000 in mobile libraries, with a further £157,000 for new books". Will jobs be lost? Potentially. The council says that staff contracts are being moved over, so employees will now work for the said that the jobs of frontline staff would be "maintained", however there would be a review of the "back office in general".He said that would involve "systems, processes and staff".When asked by the BBC if a review would potentially mean job losses, he said: "A review is a review." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
