Library Campaign

Update 08/11/11: Chair of Kambala interviewed regarding York Gardens “Big Society” Library

Sandra was interviewed tonight for BBC Radio 5 about our local library where she represents the interest of the Kambala Residents, and especially the children. You can hear it here at around 2h44 in the program.

Update 02/11/11: York Gardens Library is now open

The re-opening of York Gardens Library was a success. Both the Chair and Treasurer of KERA attended it. Wandsworth Mayor Jane Cooper cut the ribbon to officially open the Big Society library. A video from the Sacred Heart Children about the library was showed and the Thames Christian student played musical instrument while serving canapes to guests. There were few speeches from cllr Cook and Friend of York Gardens Chair Sonia Francis-Mills. The library has been beautifully refurbished and is now open for business.

Read more in the Wandsworth article here

Update  27/10/11:York Gardens Library is preparing to re-open as a Big Society Library

We’ve just confirmed the reopening date for York Gardens Library and Community Centre as the 1st November from 6 to 8 PM. There’ll be a small event that evening to mark it’s reopening and any supporters of the library will be welcome to come along. Most importantly, from then on we hope that many people in the community will continue to support us by coming in to borrow books, use the community rooms, join in activities and sign up as volunteers.

If you’re interested in volunteering you can contact us now: yorkgardenslibrary@gmail.com

If you’d like to book a room to hire, you can call Hilary on 020 8871 8848. There are several rooms to hire: a 4 person interview room, three rooms with capacity of 50, and the large community hall (capacity up to 200) which has a kitchen facility. Charges have been revised and reduced to make them more affordable.
The library itself will continue to have activities running for children and adults and we have plans for some home-grown community activities, to meet the needs of local people. We currently have a questionnaire which you can fill out to tell us about the sorts of activities you’d like to see at York Gardens. If you would like to know more and provide feedback, email us at yorkgardenslibrary@gmail.com or contact us via Twitter @saveyglibrary

See you in November!

Update: The Stakeholder group is happy to inform you that the Library Big Hall will continue to be a community hall after fighting to keep it for the benefit of our community.
The library will be closed in November for refurbishment but will reopen in November.

Update: Find out what the press is saying about York Gardens Library on this page

Update:MP for Tooting, Sadiq Khan, has written an open letter about the library closures to Edward Lister, leader of the Council. You can read it here.

Update: Click here to see the excellent video that Sandra Munoz-Alvarez has produced, of local residents opposing the library closure.

Update: Click here for details of the Read-in Event on Saturday 5th February

Wandsworth Borough Council want to close York Gardens library.

A consultation paper proposed two options for cutting costs in the library service.  Option 1 was to close the six smaller libraries (York Gardens, Battersea Park, Northcote, Earlsfield, Southfields, and Roehampton).  Option 2 was to just close York Gardens, and to reduce the opening hours in the other libraries.  At a meeting on 11th November, the Council’s “Overview and Scrutiny” committee agreed to recommend Option 2 to the Executive council, despite representations from our local Latchmere Ward councillors.

Neither option is acceptable to Kambala Estate Residents, since they both mean closing our local library.  Latchmere is the most deprived Ward in the Borough, according to the Council’s own figures.

The Council would save £219,000 per year by closing the library (which is less than the Annual Salary that the Chief Executive of the Council received last year) – but in actual fact, the Council acknowledge that they would probably need to provide some kind of outreach service for Children, which would reduce the saving to £127,000 per year.  The Council could save £53,000 per year just by reducing the opening hours – so the difference between closing the library and reducing the opening hours is just £74,000 per year.

Wandsworth Council has recently been criticised by the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, for “hoarding” cash reserves of £105 million. The leader of the Council, Edward Lister has said that all but £10 million of these reserves are “earmarked for specific purposes”, and so the Council is not prepared to offset the cuts by using it.

The Council have also said that they will not increase Council tax, despite it already being the lowest in the Country, and it having remained at the same level for the past 3 years.  In fact, they actually reduced it last year.

If the Council were to increase Council Tax to cover the cost of keeping the library open , it would cost a Band D home just 59 pence extra per year – and that’s before any Housing Benefit is taken into account.  (Most homes on the Estate are actually Band B (46p/year) or Band C (53p/year))

What Can YOU Do?

1. Download and fill in the Public Consultation Survey This is the most important thing you can do.  The Survey is your opportunity to say what you feel about the various options.  The more of these that the Council receives, the more likely that they will take notice.  The Survey is anonymous, but must be emailed or posted to the Council.  You can also drop the form into the library itself.
2. Come along to the Public Consultation Meeting on 10th January from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.  Again, the more people that turn up to this meeting, the more chance that the council will take notice.
3. Write to the leader of the Council, Edward Lister (elister@wandsworth.gov.uk), to tell him what you think.
4. Download and sign the Petition form.  Petitions are not nearly as effective as filling in the Survey form, but they may help the cause.

Further Information

Wandsworth Council’s report on the options for savings in the Borough’s Library Service

Agenda and notes for the meeting on November 11th, at which the above report was discussed.

Read-in on Saturday 5th February

There will be a Read-in on Saturday 5th February, with various local authors and celebrities giving talks, interspersed with statements from members of the Public, saying what York Gardens Library means to them.

Confirmed speakers at present include:

• Sophia Bennett (author of the popular Teen Series “Threads”)
• Rebecca Elliot (author and illustrator whose book “Just Because” is currently nominated for the People’s Book Prize & the NASEN children’s book award.)
• Emmy The Great (singer-songwriter)
• Caroline Lawrence (bestselling children’s author who will be giving a sneak peek at her new series “Western Mysteries”, and giving away copies of “Roman Mysteries”)
• Nadifa Mohamed (author of “Black Mamba Boy” – winner of the Betty Trask award shortlisted for several other awards)
• Swiss (formerly of So Solid Crew)
• Sam West (actor and director)

The Read-in will start at 1pm. It will be preceded by the regular “Rhymetime” of Action Rhymes and Dancing, for under-5s.

All welcome to attend – please come along and show the Council that you want this library