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Oxfordshire County Council claims it wants to keep all libraries open BUT for Sonning Common this will mean:
- cutting professional staffing by two thirds
- recruiting 50-60 local volunteers with the time and energy to fill the gap
The Friends of Sonning Common Library believe this will be impossible for a community of our size and that rural areas are being unfairly targeted. Help us to convince the county council to find a fairer, more realistic solution for our library.
Letter to O.C.C
The following letter was sent to Oxfordshire County Council on the 6/9/2011 by Friends of Sonning Common Library
Friends of Sonning Common Library
John Jackson, Director of Social and Community Services, Oxfordshire County Council
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Dear Mr Jackson
We thought it might be useful to give you an indication of our response to the county council’s proposals for libraries prior to our public meeting with you on Monday 12 September at 7.30pm in Sonning Common Village Hall.
We were dismayed to find that the county council is proposing to place Sonning Common in the third and lowest tier of library provision and would be grateful to know more about the criteria used to reach this recommendation.
Under the county council’s current proposal, Sonning Common will lose two-thirds of its professional staff, equivalent to a reduction in professional staff hours from 30 to eight.
The Friends of Sonning Common Library believe that the county council’s proposal will fail to meet the needs of our community. It does not present a viable, long-term solution for our library.
Of course we appreciate that savings have to be made but we would urge the county council to apply cuts proportionately across all of Oxfordshire’s libraries. This solution, wholeheartedly supported by the alliance of threatened libraries, is surely fairer and more equitable.
Why should libraries in rural, isolated communities such as ours be penalised while libraries in densely-populated urban areas enjoy greater resources, under the county’s current proposals? If the county council believes that a library service run largely by volunteers is the way forward, why is it not looking to introduce large numbers of volunteers at all libraries?
We would remind the county council of its legal duty (under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964) to provide a “comprehensive and efficient” library service. This legal obligation applies equally to all areas where there is a public library, not just to areas of the county council’s choosing.
We know that this is a difficult issue but we would urge the county council to work with our community representatives to find an acceptable and realistic way forward for Sonning Common Library.
Ours is a large and developing village with a population of more than 4,000 people. The library is our only public amenity and public transport links to the nearest, better-resourced library in Henley are poor. Our library is well-used, well-run, and, importantly, receives a significant financial contribution from Sonning Common Primary School towards its annual running costs.
Our library really is at the heart of our community and we will continue to fight hard to protect it for the sake of its 600 or so users each week, and particularly for children, the older generation, the three primary schools, secondary school, special school and four pre-schools that depend upon it.
Therefore, we will be urging the county council to consider moving Sonning Common Library to the second tier of provision with the retention of two-thirds professional staff. Our aim is to retain a presence of village-based professional staff during all library opening hours.
With this amount of professional support we believe that it should be possible to find sufficient volunteers from within our community to supplement the service provided by professional staff, but in no way should volunteers be expected to run the library themselves.
Any less than two-thirds of professional staff and an over-reliance on volunteers would result in a severe deterioration in the quality of our library service and, ultimately, lead to the library’s demise, we believe.
Under the county council’s current proposals, we estimate that Sonning Common would need to find 50-60 volunteers to fill the gaps left by professional staff. This is a huge ‘ask’ and places our community in an impossible position.
We look forward to meeting with you on 12 September. Our Friends group would also like to request a second meeting with county council representatives to discuss in more detail the way forward for Sonning Common Library following the public meeting. We would like to suggest 26 or 27 September for this meeting and would be grateful to know of your availability.
Yours sincerely
The Friends of Sonning Common Library
Ros Varnes, Douglas Kedge, John Pearman, Diana Pearman, Erica Coulehan, Chrissie Phillips-Tilbury, Jo Hunt
cc Judith Heathcoat, Carol Viney
The Fight Continues!
After Oxfordshire County Council originally announced in November 2010 that they would be shutting 20 libraries, including Sonning Common, public outcry and protests forced them to look at their plans again.
In May 2011, they issued a new proposal to keep all libraries open and to give them continued access to their buildings, the library infrastructure and book stocks. Good news, you might think.
However, the bad news is that professional library staff would be substantially reduced at many libraries, including Sonning Common.
The new proposal will create a three tier system, whereby 22 libraries will benefit from full funding and staffing; 5 libraries will lose one third of the staff funding; and the remaining 16 (including Sonning Common) will now lose two thirds of their staff funding with the county council expecting volunteers to fill the gaps left by the removal of the professional librarians.
The criteria used for the new proposal (looking at where people most live, work, shop, transport links, schools and population) is flawed, favours urban environments and puts many of our rural libraries at risk. (See Analysis.)
Friends of Sonning Common Library believe that whilst volunteers have a valuable role to play in supporting librarians, they should not be seen as a replacement for professional library staff or expected to run libraries themselves. It has been calculated that between 50-60 volunteers would be needed to keep the library running to it’s current level.
We are still fighting to keep a viable professional library service available in Sonning Common.
What can you do to help?
- Get involved with the public consultation. Click here or pick up a copy at the library.
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Say why Sonning Common needs to retain professional, village-based staff at all times when the library is open
- Give examples of how professional library staff have helped you
- Explain why you think using volunteers on this scale would not work
- Tell them that the criteria is flawed and favours urban libraries with good transport links
- (For additional information on the flaws, biases, and lack of rigor in the new proposal, see the Analysis on the Consultation page)
- Attend the Public Meeting (12th Sept. in the village hall)
- Become a Supporter
The Friends of Sonning Common Library are working to keep the library open, inform the community about developments, and liaising with the county council about alternatives. We are also working with other library campaign groups on the wider issue of library closures in Oxfordshire.
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Consultation
- Make sure your voice is heard. See the
Consultation page
We need volunteers!
- contact us at
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National Petition - sign the petition
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Help to save the library - join the 'Save Our Library' campaign. For more things you can do see the 'Get Involved' links on the left.