New government statistics show that libraries are less popular than ever, with a drop over 5 years of nearly one-third in the number who visit them. Over 60 percent of adults do not use them even once a year. Libraries seem vulnerable. With government striving to make economies and councils made to cut budgets, libraries could see their spending cut dramatically. Libraries face a downward spiral i...
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Spectator on 30th Aug 2010 (via spectator.co.uk)
I came across this article below in the Local Government Association magazine - it is a useful look at libraries and I was encouraged by it's contents - indeed sent a copy to head of libraries in Gloucestershire.Photo: old cover of MI magazine re Painswick Library - see more re that story hereSome blog readers will recall I am at present seeking funds and the go-ahead to trial a project where
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RuscombeGreen on 17th Mar 2009 (via ruscombegreen.blogspot.com)
People would be able to chat, drink coffee and watch videos in English libraries under a new government proposal, The Independent has learnt. Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, will today launch a consultation on changing the face of libraries which he believes are out of touch.
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TheIndependent on 8th Oct 2008 (via rss.feedsportal.com)
If libraries are to survive then a major rethink on how they are run is needed, according to the Local Government Association.
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BBCPolitics on 6th Aug 2011 (via bbc.co.uk)
The government has launched a new review pledging to put libraries "at the very heart" of the community.
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ePolitix on 9th Oct 2008 (via rss.feedsportal.com)
Rumblings have started in Camden’s library users group (CPLUG), questioning Liberal Democrat libraries policies. Alan Templeton, CPLUG leader complains in the Camden New Journal of the “closure of libraries by stealth” as new figures show that between 2006 and March 2007 more than 35,000 books in Camden libraries were sold off or thrown away by the Town Hall. This must have come ...
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TheosBlog on 3rd Sep 2008 (via regentsparklabour.blogspot.com)
Public libraries across the country could be closed to save money, under plans being considered by ministers.
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Telegraph on 9th Feb 2010 (via telegraph.co.uk)
It's been quite a week. I visited the libraries at The Mound (under threat of closure from the philistines at Labour HQ), Mottingham and New Eltham where I also took the opportunity to drop in for a coffee at C.A.N.E. - a facility which should be the template for libraries everywhere. While at The Mound, in Coldharbour, I chatted to the Postmaster who saved the only Post office in...
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DavidGold on 17th Oct 2008 (via davidgold4eltham.com)
There is no local controversy which cannot be worsened by central government intervention. Not many political parties say much about libraries in their manifestos. And they don’t tend to get raised as an issue on the doorstep – potholes, litter, crime and the level of council tax are much more popular topics. Nor do canvassers hear a
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LiberalDemocratVoice on 30th Nov 2009 (via libdemvoice.org)
Libraries are not just another public service - they have the power to change lives, says Robert Colvile.
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Telegraph on 20th Jan 2011 (via telegraph.co.uk)
The Liberal Democrats have accused the government of allowing the "slow death" of public libraries.
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ePolitix on 2nd Nov 2008 (via rss.feedsportal.com)
