How we can ALL save our library

Local authorities are in a very difficult situation. They are being starved of resources by the swivel-eyed Scrooges in Whitehall, who still seem convinced they can cut back to the bone without affecting public services. Camden Council, faced with similar problems to other London Councils, is better placed than some, but will have suffered virtually halving its budget by 2017. Many services are statutory (care for the elderly and waste collection to name two services where costs are rising) but other services don’t have the same level of protection.


Sadly, the Labour cabinet has worked out it needs to save £800,000 from its library budget. A consultation exercise has been launched this week – it’s online at futurelibraries@camden.gov.uk where you can find all sorts of costs and statistics about individual libraries as well the questionnaire which contains a wide range of cost-saving options. Thy say nothing is ruled out – even for the sake of argument- closing Swiss Cottage library! But it is crystal clear West Hampstead library is at risk. It is expensive to run (staff needed on 2 floors) and is not as well visited as libraries in other areas. It is also not considered to be in an area of deprivation which is one criteria for maintaining a library in Camden.

Because our library is at risk, we all need to campaign to save it and provide it with a future. West Hampstead Cllr Phil Rosenberg has started an online petition http://tinyurl.com/okxnpjz which already has a large number of signatures and is supported by the Friends of West Hampstead Library (FoWHL) and is inspiring a cross-party campaign of the type that was recently so successful in supporting the Neighbourhood Development Plan (see next post) So please get signing and tell your friends and neighbours! Also the future of our library will be discussed at the forthcoming Area Action Group – details to be announced – at which you will be able to question councillors and officers.

Let’s not just leave it to a few people – let’s make this a genuine West hampstead camapign involving everyone and send a message to the Town Hall: “HANDS OFF OUR LIBRARY!”