Blaming hard pushed staff is not the answer

Further to the letter that appeared in last week’s Croydon Guardian, an online version has appeared. This expands on the text in the printed version, adding,

“All the students I met that were being told off for sitting at empty tables were exceedingly polite to the aggressive staff.  A student sat on the floor, which they were told off for, joked and I quote: “I’m on the library’s most wanted list!”. 

I urge other students to stand up against the staff, and to write in to your local papers and complain to the library so that we stand together against this unjust dictatorship. We may be young and studious but we deserve to study, and to be heard, as soon we will be the generation in charge.”

This puts an extremely different slant on the letter.

Yes, the study pass system does not work. It wastes a great deal of time for both staff and for library users. Those applying need to do so daily and are required to log out each day.

Yes, the colour-coding of tables is a nonsense, creating an unwelcoming environment for users and a headache for staff who it appears must enforce Carillion dictat.

Colour coding – No expense spared on this exercise.

Do NOT, under any circumstances, use this table to acquire knowledge or to better yourself. Knowledge is over-rated. Love Carillion x

But the library user who wrote this letter needs to speak with other users of Croydon Central Library, as we have.

Library users hate the system.  They do not understand what purpose it serves BUT they do not blame the staff for this. 

When we visited last week there was not one member of staff on duty in the Children’s Library, nor on another floor. That’s two out of three floors/library areas we visited, unstaffed.

Any user needing assistance in these areas was directed to the Reception desk on the ground floor, manned by just two members of staff, dealing with a queue of users who were borrowing, returning, making enquiries and reservations and applying for or returning their study passes.

And who carries out these extra Reception desk duties? Not more but far fewer staff than before; just two members of staff on the day we visited.  And service with a smile was what we received.

The library users we spoke with were aware of the deterioration in the service but often unaware of the reason behind it.  They were acutely aware of the lack of staff and the bizarre systems put in place BUT not one that we spoke with placed the blame on the staff.

You can’t blame the staff. If they could speak out I bet they’d say that they are as unhappy about the situation as the library users are.

Staff in Croydon libraries have done an admirable job, delivering the level of service they do, under intolerable conditions.

Croydon library users know it and stand firm in their support for the staff – the few staff who remain, that is.

A serious shared lack of judgement or wilfully misleading #Croydon? You decide

Letter to the Editor of the Croydon Guardian on Monday 5th August, 2013:

If New Addington Library is unfit for use, why is it good enough for Salvation Army?

The writer, a Forestdale resident, makes the case that the statements made by key Conservative councillors lead the community to believe that  the old New Addington building is no longer fit for habitation.

He quotes local Councillor, Tony Pearson, who stated that,

“The current library building is old and not really fit for purpose”,

 Cllr Sara Bashford stated,

 “We will be moving the library into the Calat, that is the plan at the moment. To shut the current building which is quite old and getting to the end of its useful life”.

and added

“The library is currently in a quite old, crumbling building”.

And this argument was reinforced by Councillor Tim Pollard, stating,

“We are going to relocate the library for two reasons. One is the existing building is no longer fit for purpose – it is falling to bits. It was built back at a time when building standards weren’t great”.

Taking all of the above into account, the writer makes the reasonable assumption that that the old New Addington building is in a virtual state of collapse.

So the resident poses a very reasonable question, as follows:

My question is why, if the old library building, which was “not fit for purpose” in 2011 and “getting to the end of it’s useful life”, “quite old and crumbling” and “falling to bits” in 2012, is it now, and for the next 18 to 24 months, being leased to The Salvation Army, who are using it as a play centre for the children of New Addington? 

Are Croydon Council callously putting money ahead of the safety of the residents of New Addington, or were Councillors Pearson, Bashford and Pollard deliberately lying, so as to smooth the way for Croydon Council to get the green light, as they have done this week, to sell the land to a major supermarket? 

And finally, will Croydon Council assume liability if the building does “crumble” or “fall to pieces” and people are injured or possibly killed, or more to the point, will Councillors Pearson, Bashford and Pollard be reprimanded, dismissed, or even prosecuted, if the building is found to be perfectly safe, and they are found to have been lying, scaremongering and abusing their power when placed into a position of trust?

Thanks to Gary James McIver for exposing this. Please get in touch if you know more. Can this really be true?

Email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com or add a comment below.

You can read the full text of the letter here.

New Addington Library – Seeing through the spin.

The latest news is that New Addington have a new library, according to Cllr Pollard. The “news” was produced in both local papers. The Croydon Advertiser article didn’t even make the online listings but is reproduced below.

Strikingly similar? They would be, as the text of both is lifted, almost word for word, from the council’s own press release.

So, now to the truth.

What New Addington actually has is a co-located facility, including a library over two floors.

This was achieved by drastically reducing the adult education space in the old CALAT (Adult learning) building, now renamed the New Addington Centre, and locating the library in a shared space, along with other services.

The children have lost access to a secure enclosed garden area off their part of the library in the old library.

The children’s area may be larger in the new setting, if you disregard the loss of the garden space, but both articles fail to mention the close proximity to the IT suite used by adults who look on to the children’s area, unlike the librarians who have no station in the children’s area and are situated at the counter by the main revolving doors, out of sight and ear shot of the children’s section.  In the old library the staff were stationed in the centre and were fully accessible to the children using the library.

There was just one PC in the children’s section of the new facility when it opened last week and not all PCs were in working order, something this library has in common with many other Croydon libraries.

The article reports,

“There will be a new stock of books as well as DVDs and talking books.
Following a public consultation more historical, crime and adventure novels were purchased.”

Indeed there are new books but considering, how low the stock was run down in the original library, it is little wonder.  Take a look.

The before:

A purpose built library with easy access, surrounded by green space, set well back from the road, with ample parking and next door to the leisure centre.

with row upon row of empty shelving before closure …

Note the seating area at the end,  just one of many dotted around the old library building.

And, the new co-located facility

With some newly purchased books, but hardly brimming with books and, if you take a closer look, the selection is not that great either.

The new books stand out a mile, although many of the older tattier books have been weeded out.

 Front on presentation of books, propped up without support, to fill the space.

And still full rows of empty shelving as book stock is not sufficient to fill the new low level displays in the new facility, that replaced the heigh units in the old library.

And to show how limited the stock is, here is the choice of titles by local children’s author, Jean Ure. One new, one old.  Hmmm….Which to pick?

The adult books are housed upstairs, accessed via a lift.

The biggest plus though was that the library was well-staffed and, as always the staff went out of their way to greet visitors, help library users find items they required and to offer help and information.

And quite what the selection of new books was based, who knows.  If it was the survey undertaken some serious questions need to be asked. The survey was apparently available online and hard copy yet the report produced on the outcome is rather scant on detail, particularly number of respondents.

You might like to note, for instance, that the largest number of responses received to any question posed was just 57 adults, who responded to the question regarding which services are important to them.

And, even more stark is the figure for those who responded on behalf of younger library users. Just FOUR, or perhaps just THREE who attend activities responded.

With such a small response rate the other details and percentages are almost meaningless.

Did the council really replenish the now dire book stock that has been run down across the whole network on the thoughts and views of no more than 50 or so individuals? You can access the survey document here.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

#Croydon Defeated Libraries Motion – The facts

The motion put forward by Croydon Labour on libraries was defeated last night.  It is covered in the Croydon Advertiser:
Labour Party motion on Croydon’s libraries is defeated,

in the Croydon Guardian here:
Croydon Labour group pledges to tear up libraries contract if they win 2014 local elections

and on Inside Croydon here:
Emergency meeting called on sell-off of Public Libraries
here:
 Questions Pollard must answer over library shambles
 and here:
Council accused of being out of control on libraries

What are the facts?

• Save Croydon Libraries Campaign represents the views of residents and we seek to hold Croydon to account. We were consulted but no one took account of the views expressed. We know what Croydon residents want as they spoke up in their thousands and we continue to collect views and information. We are non-party political.

•   We DO NOT support Labour’s plans for Co-operative Trusts, as they report. We are yet to find a resident who understands what it means! The campaign has been given no information or consulted by Croydon Labour.

• JLIS have not pulled out of the contract, as has been reported.

• Croydon Council must allow the short-listed bidders to resubmit their bids under strict EU procurement rules. There are only GLS and Laing (JLIS) in the running.

• Croydon Conservatives are trying to downplay the seriousness of the collapse of the procurement process by referring to it as a delay, a pause or a hiccup. This will cause further delay and disruption to our library service, increase stress on staff who have worked under uncertainty for two years now, and will not come cheaply!

• The Conservatives have lost touch with their duty to serve the residents and for accountability. Cllr Sarah Bashford even claimed in the meeting last night that Cllr Pollard need not have made an announcement about the problem, which he referred to as “a small announcement” in the Budget meeting earlier this month, but could just have issued details in a press release. Cllr Lynne Hale said they were responding 100% as residents wanted!

• Croydon Labour are pressing for a Co-operative Trust model, without consultation, leaving residents confused and let down. At least the Conservatives went through the motions with their sham consultation!

• The Save Croydon Libraries Campaign has been used by Labour in their press release and this has been raised directly with them.  The Campaign will work with any political party or organisation in order to resolve the plight of our libraries and would encourage and support a cross party working group to discuss the issues before further grave and costly errors are made.

• Both parties are now acting without a mandate and this has got to stop!

Croydon residents are passively sitting and waiting to hear the outcome, confused by the misinformation in circulation, whilst our much loved library service decays under cuts by the back door and serious ongoing neglect.

We hope residents will stand up and be counted.  We must stop this as it is not what residents want!

Please let us know your thoughts and, more importantly, what you see as the next key move for Save Croydon Libraries Campaign. 

All information will be treated in confidence.

Email savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

Follow us on twitter @SaveCroydonLibs 

Join us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/savecroydonlibraries/

Did you take the six book challenge?

We posted previously to ask whether residents were inspired by the Six Book Challenge, running in Croydon libraries until the end of September. We based the post on an article in the Croydon Guardian, which quoted Cllr Tim Pollard promoting the scheme,

“With the weather we are having this summer a lot of people may find themselves looking for things to do indoors, so a few visits to a local library might be just the way to stay out of the rain.”

You can read the Croydon Guardian article here.

We were interested to know whether residents were motivated by the scheme.

We’ve summarised some of the comments received here, which you can read in full on the link above.

Tracie said,

Such a shame about the decrease in book stock and poor selection of books. This surely must affect take up of what should otherwise be a very good scheme to get people reading and to promote libraries. The scheme’s cash prize is not a motivator for me, but more the chance to read from a variety, may I even say vast selection of well-selected and even new book titles. I do hope it can still be a success though and if so, it might even go as far as to incentivise the council to reconsider their book cull and start replenishing book stocks instead. Particularly if enough people comment on the lack of and variety of books.

Stephanie added,

I hate the decrease in books and so does my kid. I believe, really, really believe in libraries – but the emphasis on words written on paper does seem to be decreasing. Does this mean we need libraries less? Looking in my house at the amount of space taken up by old videos we don’t watch much, DVDs we don’t watch much, CDs we don’t listen to much, I don’t think so! It’s way more cost-effective to have them for a while, then give them back for someone else. Simples. 

I like cash, but not as much as a decent range of books. I think the two libraries I use most often ( Sanderstead and Selsdon) try their damnedest to offer a good service, with many activities aimed at drawing in the kids – presumably in the hope of getting their parents as well – and mostly succeed in spite of seldom seeming to have a lot that is new. Sanderstead in particular is starved of much, not even opening a full week anymore, so I can’t always go there. I can’t see the point in empty shelves: they just show that the council want to close it and just haven’t got there yet. 

I took part in the six book challenge. It took me two visits, mostly because I forgot about it for a while. Normally, it would take me one. I didn’t think it was too much for most though. Perhaps it needed smaller steps for some? I know people who haven’t read a whole book since they left school – I might find them hard to relate to on this point, but I think setting them a target of six books might be unrealistic. I don’t think it need be anything wildly expensive: money is always welcome, but I was happy with what was on offer. Perhaps after one book, you get a bookmark, three books, you get a pen and six books the DVD rental? That’d work for me! Running it more than once in the year might also be a good thing, as the child-free might take most of the summer to notice the campaign…

David @davcv commented,

I had to ask at the Central Library to join the “Six Book Summer Challenge”, which I only knew about from an earlier tweet from: @SaveCroydonLibs, the bookmarks were not on display in the library and someone had to “go and find them”.

I have not bothered getting my bookmark stamped for several reasons:

1) I put my books in the returned bin. Why queue up to return books just to get a stamp. If the library staff were encouraging participation they would ask you when you took books out if you were doing the challenge and give you stamps for your returns. They can see your history when they swipe your card. 

2) There is a condition that one book must be fiction and one non fiction. If the intention is to encourage reading what does it matter what is read. 

3) Only two stamps per visit, seems again to be a completely pointless rule. So someone gets six books out, reads and returns them three weeks later in what way does this show less interest in reading than going once a week for two books. Chances are when you return your books you will take some more out. 

4) Not particularly interested in DVD hire or prize draw myself, but if this is recognised to be an encouragement then why not make it a truly unlimited offer subject to fair usage. Give a stamp for every book and allow multiple entries (not specified whether this is permitted). Many commercial DVD rental companies offer free tempters of up to a year to retain brand loyalty. 

A little more thought and marketing would probably have made this something people wanted to participate in. My personal opinion is that only existing library users would bother with this scheme at all. 

And the comment on the original article by Elizabeth reflects on last year’s experience,

Oh dear! Many had such high hopes, when Cllr Bashford was replaced by Cllr Pollard in the recent reshuffle, that we might get better representation, information and transparency. Seems though that Cllr Pollard is intent on glossing over the issues, as Cllr Bashford did so well. Is this Croydon council policy? 

I read all last Summer but my bookmark was only stamped once. Hard pushed staff were too busy coping with the short-staffed library to promote this scheme and residents did not want to add to the burden of their workload.

The children’s summer reading scheme was even worse and the true impact of this will surely show this year. Although many signed up, a large number rarely if ever returned because of the chaos, including cancelled events due to lack of volunteers.Will people turn up this year? Many doubt it. 

The opportunity to volunteer has already been widened from 16 – 25 year olds to just 16+ years in order to attract more volunteers. With only a month to go it is difficult to envisage how enhanced CRB checks will be obtained and training given. Many suspect neither will take place as there is no mention of either on application form or information leaflet. 

Perhaps the Croydon Guardian could put these points to Cllr Pollard as no one from the council is engaging with residents or library campaigners.

So, what is your experience?

Do YOU have a view on Croydon’s 
Six Book Challenge? 

We’d love to hear from you too!

Summer Book Trail – just fab or a flop in the making?

An article in the local press promotes the adult Summer reading challenge in Croydon libraries. You can read the full article here and our response here.

The Your Croydon E- bulletin, emailed out to households across the borough today, follows up by promoting this too, yet also makes no mention of the children’s Summer Book Trail running during the same period. The glossy magazine version, the June issue of Your Croydon, ironically only accessed by many residents via their local libraries, fails to mention either.

The children’s Book Trail all but failed last year as this was the first year Croydon relied on volunteers to run the scheme. Coupled with greatly depleted staffing, the Book Trail became a Book Trial for many, including those who refused to return after the Trail was cancelled without notice because of lack of staff to run events and others who felt the Book Trail had lost its attraction.  One letter received,  that we chose not to publish last year, was the outpouring of scorn on Croydon Council by one mother who blamed the authority for ruining the only thing that engaged her son in reading.

But will history repeat itself?

Many report that volunteers are not coming forward to run the children’s Summer Booktrail again this year. Initially the information specified that  volunteers needed to be between 16 and 25 years of age, as was the case last year. The poor response reported would seem to be supported by the fact that the upper age limit has been removed recently to encourage older people to come forward to try to fill the void.

There is further confusion as the Council information requires volunteers to commit to a minimum of five sessions, yet the revised paperwork, which only recently appeared in some Croydon libraries, also asked applicants to complete not only the council application but also requests that the applicant registers on the  the Do_it Volunteering website as they are now working with Croydon Voluntary Action. The link to the role can be found here: CVA – Croydon Book Trail Volunteer

This site provides different information to the details on display in the library and on application forms, including unnecessarily duplicated information.

But the striking difference is here, where it makes clear that volunteers must commit to a minimum of ten sessions, not five as advertised by the council.

And despite concern raised by residents and library campaigners last year about the need for CRB checks, which resulted in Cllr Sara Bashford giving assurances that the issue would be addressed, there is still no mention of this, this year.


Nor is there any mention of a closing date in order for volunteers to be interviewed and successful applicants to be given sufficient training to carry out the role, a role previously carried out by qualified and experienced library staff. 


Are we in for a repeat of last year?  Everything would seem to indicate so.

We’d love to hear what residents think.

What was your experience of Book Trail last year?

Does the lack of clarity around training and the CRB checks on volunteers concern you, or is having library staff around to offer supervision and guidance sufficient?

What, to you, makes the children’s Summer Book Trail a worthwhile experience?

Are you volunteering to help, and if so, what is your motivation for doing so?

You can add a comment to the blog or email your comment to soslibrary@hotmail.co.uk Please sign your post with a pseudonym or identifier if you do not log in with a facebook, blogger or twitter account.

We’d also love comments by children and teens, via email, but please give us a first name only to use on the post and your age, along with a parent’s permission for us to post your comment.

And if you’d like details of this year’s plans for Book Trail you can access them here: Book Trail 2012

HAPPY SUMMER READING! 

Lack of information causes confusion…again!

Given Croydon’s record on transparency and libraries it is a shame that the local press continue to run articles without checking other sources. Library campaigners have a very good grasp of the situation and are very keen to work with the local press! The latest article contained misinformation, stating that there are now only three organisations bidding to run the Croydon libraries network along with that of Wandsworth. The correct information was readily available, but not from Croydon Council, the one source you would expect to be providing all the information.

The facts were uncovered by Alan Wylie, finally confirmed and  flagged up on Stop the Privatization of Public Libraries  and confirmed by independent work by Inside Croydon, which we followed up here.

It is a shame the details for the Croydon Guardian article were not checked before uploading the story.  It has already been circulated to a wide readership via Public Libraries News, unchallenged. Whilst the content of the article may not hold weight the comments are worth a read.  The full article can be found here.

Although LSSI have followed Civica by withdrawing from the process there are still four potential providers, yet to be short-listed, as an in house bid was accepted from Wandsworth after LSSI withdrew.

Yet despite speculation that the whole process is falling apart there is no real sign as yet from Wandsworth or from Croydon that they are wavering from their intention to wash their hands of their libraries, with only saving money as their prime, some would suggest their sole, motivator.

Council flouting its legal agreement

Another library article in the local press, still not online so reproduced here.

Croydon Guardian article May 23, 2012 Croydon is accused of flouting its legal agreement to run Upper Norwood Library (UNJL) jointly with Lambeth Council.   Whilst the UNJL consultation document gave the option to keep funding at existing levels, Croydon library campaigners are acutely aware that in the previous consultation on six Croydon libraries, Croydon chose to ignore the ‘do nothing’ option. Will it be the same for Upper Norwood? The options Croydon put to Lambeth before the launch of this consultation certainly do not support continued support from Croydon:  http://www.soslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/croydons-treatment-of-upper-norwood.html but perhaps most damning is the details Inside Croydon exposed of Croydon’s dealings with Lambeth early on in the process.

Purley Festival promoting Croydon libraries!

Purley Festival runs from 25th June to 1st July and their Twitter account has tweeted about “special events” being run in Purley Library as part of the festival.

A regular weekly event promoted under the banner of Purley Festival.

Seems this is, yet again, a case of Croydon residents taking the matter of promoting Croydon libraries into their own hands. Whilst we await details directly from Purley Festival organisers we sought out the details for ourselves, on the Croydon Council website.

Nothing listed under Events in Croydon Libraries

Nothing additional under the events listed in Purley Library tab, other than the regular activities on offer.

Nor is there anything out of the ordinary listed in the Events listings for the week of Purley Festival.

We look forward to receiving full details of the additional events and are keen to promote them as we regularly hear of residents struggling to find details of events in Croydon libraries as advertising is so poor and erratic.

But it will come as no surprise to many of us that Cllr Tim Pollard, newly appointed to the role for overseeing libraries, is quick to follow in the steps of his predecessor, Cllr Sara Bashford, in taking the credit for the work of residents promoting libraries and denying problems with the service on offer.

In the Croydon Guardian, online Cllr Pollard is quoted,

“The events at Purley Library during the festival week cater for all age groups with a range of interests and many encourage whole-family participation. 

Some of the activities are regular events at the library, while others are one-offs, adding extra dimensions from music, fashion and craft as well as literature and discussions about China and Croydon- a measure of the diverse nature of what our libraries offer.” 

Dare we remind Cllr Pollard of the events regularly cancelled in Sanderstead Library, the library in his own ward?  The promised list of volunteers, he claimed were so keen to help, that never materialised for the Summer Booktrail, resulting in activities being cancelled, just one example.

Cllr Bashford was caught out by the Bookseller for the lack of any promotion of any events for National Libraries Day, which resulted in hard pushed staff cobbling together displays such as this at only a day’s notice.

UK Citizenship test or Highway code anyone?

Let’s hope that a community pulling all the stops out, in their own time, to promote Purley and its facilities, including its library; a library who campaigners believe is still lucky enough to have a qualified librarian attending, unlike many other Croydon libraries, is supported by Cllr Pollard and Croydon Council.

We’ll post full details of all events in the library that week when we can establish details.

Croydon Libraries bidders named but campaigners’ concerns misrepresented

Save Croydon Libraries Campaign appreciates the Croydon Guardian covering the ongoing saga of Croydon Libraries with a further article on their website today but we do question why they will not engage directly with the campaign group to verify the facts. The same article went into the printed edition, without correction.

No one debates that the local press must have great difficulty verifying the real situation as Cllr Sara Bashford and Croydon Council are almost silent on the matter, pushing through the privatisation of all thirteen libraries, knowingly having only consulted with the users of less than half the libraries in the network.


Since then the Upper Norwood Library run jointly with Lambeth has run into trouble as Croydon no longer wishes to provide funding for it. Cllr Sara Bashford is also quoted in the local press announcing the closure of New Addington library without any planning of the space that might house the ‘replacement’ of this well-used, purpose built library or what book stock might be available.  In her own words, when asked if the new building will house the same number of books as it does presently, Cllr Bashford is quoted as saying she could not make any promises.

“I could not say there will be the same number of books definitely,” she explained.“We do not know what the square footage available will be in comparison with the library.”

How reassuring.

The Save Croydon Libraries Campaign continues to work with and receive information from residents across the borough as well as national campaigners. We can only assume this Croydon Guardian article is based on the information which first appeared on Alan Wylie’s excellent Stop the Privatisation of UK Public Libraries blog on March 20th and in the detailed article by Inside Croydon on March 21, which contains a great deal of research into the organisations involved.


To clarify, Save Croydon Libraries Campaign is not concerned that outsourcing the network of libraries will lead to immediate closure. During the bidding process, Croydon have already altered the plan by announcing the closure of  New Addington. Prior to this there was a drastic reduction in staffing in our libraries and then a huge cull of book stock. Croydon were also caught out by residents and the Bookseller for their woeful lack of activity for National Libraries Day – hard-pushed staff cobbling together some makeshift displays at short notice, to cover up the omission, after the Bookseller article was released. Thanks to residents who have sent us photos and the facts across the borough. In many locations there was nothing to photograph and enquiries met with blank expressions or apologies for not being aware but here is just a sample of the details we were able to record.  Judge for yourself.

 No special activities and leaflets on the board without actual dates for activities, though printed for January to March 2012. What does “one Saturday a month” actually mean and how can people plan to attend if the date is not available?

 Children’s display in a Croydon Library.  Enticing choice of reading matter, don’t you agree? This was taken early on in the day.  The resident straightened the books casually thrown at the display.

 The entrance display was a real treat. UK Citizenship test booklet anyone, or perhaps you fancy brushing up on the Highway Code?

 A children’s display in another library, though no adult display.  At least better than some with no display at all.

And this has to be our favourite.  The only activity that perhaps might have been considered special was author  Monica Carly at Central Library that day.  But can you spot the similarity?  An eagle-eyed resident did and these events are being held at other libraries too. Unfortunately Croydon hold few of local author Monica Carly’s books in stock but that is a minor detail surely!


We’ve already covered the concerns regarding LSSI’s early involvement and their track record in the US and the Inside Croydon article along with Alan Wylie’s blog covers many of the concerns with privatisation of libraries in general and the organisations Croydon have short-listed specifically.


We do not believe residents want external organisations to run our libraries. Why would we want someone else to make a profit from our libraries? We want the local authority to run the service effectively, correctly and to provide the comprehensive service that is not available to many at the moment.


We want staff to work without undue stress, with training and with knowledge of the local communities that they serve. Residents do not want staff to apologise, as they do with great regularity now. Residents are greatly concerned for staff who deliver a service under extreme pressure, often with little or no training. Residents are concerned that we will lose even more of out loyal experienced and qualified staff.


And things could surely not get any worse. We already experience a greatly reduced service in our libraries, and this is nothing new. National campaigners listen to Croydon and are aware of the problems in Croydon.  We really need the local press to back residents on this and expose what is really going on before it is too late.


As always, we remain open to offering the local press all the evidence we have and to put you in touch with a wide range of residents affected across the borough.  National campaigners are aghast when we’ve shared details with them. What do you think Croydon Guardian? Will you afford us the same coverage that is offered to campaign groups elsewhere?


Updated 29/03/12