Croydon denies intention to sell its share of Upper Norwood Library

Croydon’s treatment of Upper Norwood Joint Library has appeared in the Evening Standard today. You can read the article here: Legal row ‘an excuse to close Library’

The article reports that Upper Norwood Library’s future is in doubt after Croydon pulled out of the agreement in place to fund the library jointly with Lambeth. Croydon funding will only last until April 2012. 

The article also reports that,

“Local residents claim Croydon wants to sell its share of the building – an allegation denied by the council.”

But who denied this claim?  The proposition put to Lambeth was very clear, as we outlined in an earlier post. 

1. Buy Croydon’s half share of all UNJL assets and accept responsibility for the UNJL.
2.  Take a lease of Croydon’s half share in the premises and become solely responsible for the UNJL.
3. Agree that the library will be sold with the proceeds, after settlement of all costs, equally divided between the two boroughs.

Deidre Mahon, a member of the Upper Norwood Library Campaign group is quoted in the Evening Standard article, 

“This is about a disagreement between two councils and they’re using a legal agreement to get out of providing a community library….Croydon have asked their valuers to go in and be discreet about it and plan to sell their share. If Croydon walks away and there are no alternative monies to fund the shortfall there’s no way the library can stay open.”

This certainly accords with Inside Croydon’s account of events, which includes the text of a letter sent by Croydon’s CEO, Jon Rouse, to his Lambeth counterpart, outline just such a plan.


What possible motive would Croydon have for setting out such a plan and then undertaking a valuation exercise of the freehold of the property and its assets, at an estimated cost of £6,500, if they do not intend to act on this? Rouse’s letter makes clear that Croydon are still pursuing the options of selling off the library or of leasing the building for three years only, with an option to buy at the end of the lease. 

At no point does there seem to be any mention of Croydon exploring any other options other than cutting and running.

More Croydon spin – Upper Norwood Joint Library

The following post appeared on the Croydon Advertiser website early Saturday 28th January, reproduced below.

The article states that Croydon and Lambeth Councils have met to discuss the future of Upper Norwood Library. The future of the 111-year-old library, in Westow Hill, has been cast into doubt after Croydon terminated its joint agreement with Lambeth. It points out that a packed public meeting was held in November 2011 as a result of this, and that Lambeth Cllr Florence Nosegbe explained to all at this meeting, that,

“…she had been trying to get Croydon around the table, but to no avail.”

The Croydon Advertiser goes on to state that,

“Now both parties have met and talks have been described as “positive”.

But described as positive by whom? Certainly a strange journalistic style to employ. No direct quote from Lambeth’s Cllr Nosegbe nor any comment from the very active campaign group for this library. Why could this be?

The only offering from the Advertiser, something that will not come as any great surprise to most Croydon residents, is a quote from Croydon’s Councillor Bashford, dubbed “Book Token” Bashford by the sometimes acerbic but always astute blog, Inside Croydon, which has covered the Croydon libraries in multiple posts such as Croydon’s timeline of deceit and the secret meetings and outsourcing plans for our libraries.

The Advertiser quotes Cllr Bashford,

“The latest update is there have been meetings in the second week of January between Lambeth and Croydon. We’ve talked about how we can move forward and it was very constructive. We haven’t said we are closing the library, what we said is we can’t work with Lambeth in the way we have in the past.”

Many welcomed the news and saw it as a cause for celebration, given the dismal history of this much loved, well used, efficient library, jointly funded by Lambeth and Croydon Councils. You can find the full sorry story on the Upper Norwood Library Campaign site but here is just a snippet of the problems in recent years. A quick look at this and it can’t  help escape the reader’s notice that Croydon Cllr Eddy Arram is again referred to in less than favourable terms here, but we’ve covered the antics of this councillor on libraries before here and more recently here, where he seems to have earner the title of “gaff-prone Eddy”.

But the following questions need to be posed:

Why only a comment from Croydon’s Cllr Bashford and not from her Lambeth counterpart, Cllr Florence Nosegbe?

Why no comment from any one of the hundreds of people who turned out in force for the public meeting in November?

And perhaps, most curious of all, why refer to a meeting held two weeks prior?  Why the delay?  And why no mention of the public meeting held only the night before?

Could it be that this was a ploy to deflect from the focus of campaigners, holding an Emergency General meeting, only the night before this article was posted? Wouldn’t this have afforded the Croydon Advertiser the ideal opportunity to assess views for themselves directly and to get real quotes from actual people involved on all sides? Wouldn’t any decent journalist seek to get all views on the situation and attribute comments to real people, rather than just referring vaguely to,

“.. talks being described as “positive”. “

Well, we’d like to draw attention to the following statements made, apparently not available to the thorough team at the Croydon Advertiser but found by many residents and library campaigners within hours of their release. We think they shed a slightly less rosy hue on the situation and help to explain the reason for the carefully chosen words of Croydon Council.

 From Cllr Steve Reed, the Leader of Lambeth Council on Friday 27th January, 2012

“Lambeth Council supports the Upper Norwood Joint Library and we want to see it continue serving the local community into the future. We oppose the Croydon Conservatives’ attempt to close it down by withdrawing their share of the funding. Croydon’s claims that there has been any breach of the Agreement by Lambeth is untrue and is a smokescreen behind which they hope to hide their plans to close the library down. By cutting funding without a year’s notice we believe it is Croydon who have breached their legal obligations and the joint agreement.

Lambeth commits to maintaining our share of funding for this library. We call on Croydon to withdraw their immediate closure plans, withdraw their plans to sell off the building, and sit down with us and community representatives to agree a way forward. We would like to explore the idea of setting up a community trust to own and run the Upper Norwood Joint Library with funding from both Lambeth and Croydon councils. We believe that will safeguard the library from future attempts by Croydon Council to close this library.”

This was accompanied by a statement from Croydon Labour Leader Cllr Tony Newman, 

“Can I thank Steve and his team in Lambeth for standing alongside the community and Croydon’s Labour Councillors in fighting Croydon Conservatives clear attempt to close the Upper Norwood Library, a community trust would secure the libraries long term future and remove the threat of Councillor Fisher ever holding a gun to the libraries head again.”

Then there was this statement Croydon Cllr Sara Bashford gave to the Upper Norwood Library Campaign for the meeting held on Friday evening,

‎”I am pleased that discussions are now taking place between Croydon and Lambeth. We are discussing possible ways forward for the future of UNJL. Croydon’s position on entering a new agreement has not changed but we hope the discussions will allow Lambeth to develop new management arrangements for the Library, in line with the report on libraries produced by their Commission recently. However, these discussions are on-going, so there is, as yet, no outcome to report.”

And one for her counterpart on Lambeth Council, Cllr Florence Nosegbe,

“Unfortunately the discussions with LB Croydon have not progressed as far as I would have liked – as you can appreciate a number of Officers and Councillors were away over the Christmas period.

I know that a number of residents are worried about the future of the Library, however Lambeth’s position as I started when I attended the meeting in November 2011, has not changed. We still remain committed to the library and working with the campaign group, local residents and councillors to secure its future.”

Perhaps Cllr Bashford and the Croydon’s Conservative group are particularly keen to send out vaguely worded positive messages after Inside Croydon exposed the shocking approaches Croydon have been employing. You can read the full text of the Inside Croydon post here, including the text of a letter from Jon Rouse, Croydon’s CEO, to his counterpart in Lambeth, outlining Croydon’s firm decision, unreasonable time frames and pleas for discretion – which many interpret as pleas for secrecy. 

And let’s not forget the actual words of Cllr Bashford in her statement (our emphasis), 

“Croydon’s position on entering a new agreement has not changed but we hope the discussions will allow Lambeth to develop new management arrangements for the Library, in line with the report on libraries produced by their Commission recently. However, these discussions are on-going, so there is, as yet, no outcome to report.”

Seems pretty clear what the real situation is when you balance the actual words of Cllr Bashford with those of  all the others and pit them against this flimsy article by the Croydon Advertiser, don’t you think?

Image courtesy of Phil Bradley at  http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5253/5398040089_3b76b1e464_b.jpg

No libraries closing in Croydon! Hip hip hooray!

No libraries closing in Croydon! Hip hip hooray!

This is the very positive message, delivered by Cllr Sara Bashford, and confirmed by Croydon Central MP, Gavin Barwell.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

A resident, who is a library campaigner, has been taken to task for tweeting about the Inside Croydon post, that details information about closures.

You can read the full blog here.

Mr Barwell is not known for his courtesy on twitter and we’ve witnessed many heated exchanges with other tweeters, including national library campaigners we follow, such as the indefatigable Shirley Burnham who seemed shocked that Mr Barwell was being so discourteous and so unwilling to engage with the campaign group. It is quite clear that Mr Barwell has also almost systematically ignored replying to any libraries questions put to him on twitter, such as the one above from Andrew Pelling, or from others for that matter, as the following example demonstrates:

When residents or campaigners ask for clarity, they are ignored.  Yet finally, Mr Barwell was prepared to tweet, and we reproduce it here.

Many noted the careful wording – the use of “branch” libraries in this tweet.

The council has sought to focus on the “all libraries are saved” message by reinforcing that none are closing, and Mr Barwell was certainly happy to reinforce this message in his tweet.

Unfortunately residents and campaigners are very cynical as they believe they were not listened to in the consultation process and have since noticed the service has been silently eroded through  the loss of many of our professional librarians and experienced staff.  Volunteers promised for the Summer BookTrail didn’t materialise, some events have been cancelled and residents struggle to obtain clear information about activities running.

Then campaigners became increasingly concerned that residents began reporting a cull of book stock over some months.  Library after library were clearing their shelves of books, these were being boxed up, and all without explanation.  It seems, once again, Inside Croydon were the first to receive some information on this and you can read the post here.

So while we accept that Croydon libraries are still open, we have reduced staffing of experienced assistants and qualified librarians, a catalogue of problems caused by this, library events cancelled and attempts to enlist volunteers thwarted, leading to further problems.  Now we have the removal of book stock, undertaken silently and without explanation. But at least our libraries are open.

And then this.

The Croydon Advertiser was given information by Cllr Bashford that New Addington Library is, in fact, closing.  You can read the full post here http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Closure-New-Addington-Library-building-far-says/story-14437221-detail/story.html  As you can see from the comments, New Addington Pathfinders, the so called independent voice in New Addington, are already on board and appear open to the plans.

It seems they are little concerned that Cllr Bashford is unable to assure what book stock will be on offer.  As they say, these can be ordered.  Could it be though that Pathfinders are unaware of the problems across the borough with reservations and transfers? Certainly other residents are aware, as this comment on the post demonstrates.  How do Pathfinders think this new, more cramped space, will do any better?

They seem not only open to, but almost thankful, that the council is sharing this information before and  not after the closure and move.  Are they really not aware of what is going on, on their doorstep?  The CALAT centre in New Addington has been unable to produce an up to date brochure of courses because they have lost teaching space in order to accommodate this move. That’s not just courses for leisure but courses run that provide residents with life skills such as basic literacy and numeracy, offering a gateway to improved opportunities and possible employment. The job centre will also be accommodated at the CALAT centre.

Just exactly what space is going to be available to accommodate this library that Cllr Bashford assures will offer the same level of service, as is currently on offer in a purpose built library, which even includes a secure garden area?

The article goes on to explain that the council will not be consulting the residents until after the decision has been taken.  In Cllr Bashford’s own words,

 ” When we have exact plans we will find out what works best for residents”,

 as is the way with Croydon consultations –  plan first, consult after. But perhaps the most damning statement Cllr Bashford makes is that, in referring to the comparable space available at the CALAT Centre and the existing library,

“We do not know what the square footage available will be in comparison with the library.”

So the closure of a well used, purpose built library is decided without any consideration of the available space in the proposed new venue. It hardly seems there is any rigour to the decision process or any regard for how a service might cope in the limited space available.

No wonder CALAT cannot advertise courses, no wonder the library is telling enquirers there is no forward plan for events and no wonder Croydon’s Cllr Bashford has been forced to make this rather half-hearted announcement about, yes, a closure.

Could it be that this is merely the half-way step to setting up another lucrative deal with developers to offer the prime library location in New Addington up for grabs to the highest bidder, perhaps a bidder already lined up? There has been talk for years of a supermarket such as Tesco’s in New Addington. Could it just be that the CALAT move is merely an interim measure, with any developer having to provide a library facility within the complex that they build, just like Sainsbury’s in Selsdon, in the ward that Cllr Bashford represents?

Whatever the plan, New Addington are being sold short with a poorly thought out plan to cram so much into an already well used space which is the current CALAT building.

But perhaps Mr Barwell’s reference to no branch libraries being closed was really intended to mask the quite shocking revelation about Upper Norwood Joint Library, exposed today by Inside Croydon.  Read the latest here: http://insidecroydon.com/2012/01/16/rouse-tells-lambeth-to-plan-closure-of-library-in-secret/

No wonder Mr Barwell is so keen to discredit and expose Save Croydon Libraries campaigners, as he tweeted today:

It seems that Croydon library campaigners and bloggers such as Inside Croydon are just a little too close to exposing the truth.

We dread to think what will happen next.  Watch this space.

Croydon agree to work with Wandsworth – outsourcing libraries

Wandsworth and Croydon Councils have approved working jointly to investigate outsourcing their libraries libraries.  Concerns still remain as these local Guardian articles show.

“Fears over Croydon library plans” in the Croydon Guardian –
“Opposition councillors have denounced plans to outsource the library service in Croydon.” Councillor Bashford was unable to provide details of how the figures quoted in the proposal passed by Cabinet had been arrived at when Councillor Maggie Mansell asked for clarification. Read the full text here:
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/archive/2011/09/22/News_Croydon+%28news%29/9262531.Fears_over_library_plans/

“Concern raised over library service plan in Wandsworth” in the Wandsworth Guardian –
Councillor Leonie Cooper voiced Labour’s concerns, “..it is vital that any outsourcing does not lead to an erosion of services, or any further reductions to library opening hours or supplies of books.”
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/archive/2011/09/27/news_wandsworth/9272458.Concern_raised_over_library_service_plan/

Wandsworth and Croydon Labour groups have voiced a willingness to explore ways of reducing costs of running libraries and exploring different approaches but hold concerns that outsourcing may lead to a deterioration in the service on offer. The Croydon Labour offer to establish a cross party commission on libraries to allow all residents a say and to explore alternatives to outsourcing was rejected by Croydon Conservatives.  You can read more of the history  here.

Setting the record straight…

The possible fate of Croydon’s network of 13 libraries was revealed in a Sunday Express article a month ago, naming Croydon as the latest council considering a deal with the US firm LSSI. We have already made initial comments on this article in our previous post.

The following week the Leader of Croydon Council admitted in the local press that Croydon’s CEO, Jon Rouse and Wandsworth’s CEO had indeed met with LSSI.  Although it seems Wandsworth is not keen to be associated with this meeting, denying their involvement.  Further details here. 

The Sunday Express article sets out that, despite concerns, some believe the firm LSSI should be given a chance. They then went on to quote the views of a sole library campaigner in Croydon.

Despite library campaign groups in Croydon working together no one knew of this latest ‘development’, nor could anyone understand the basis of the comments made. The article, and the quotes in particular, sparked concern from library campaigners from within and beyond Croydon who made contact immediately to try to remedy the situation. The paper has been contacted to be made aware of the inaccuracies. Four weeks on with no further clarification we set out to do just that as this misinformation should not remain unchallenged. 

The following are quotes from the article, followed by comments reflecting the more representative view of library campaigners in Croydon.

“The alternative is libraries closing so we have to consider what they are offering”

Sara Bashford, the lead Cabinet member on Libraries, has already made very clear that no library will close; Croydon Council say that they are committed to not closing any library. This was also clearly announced at the Labour Shadow Cabinet meeting on Monday 6^th June.

The threat of closure was a ploy used by some councillors and MPs throughout the consultation process to encourage people to step up to volunteer or accept a lesser service and, in the absence of any clear formal council announcement, it is unhelpful to perpetuate the view that the treat of closure still hangs over Croydon libraries.

“It is a very divisive subject and feelings run high but our position is if we can keep the library open and meet standards on staffing and service, let’s see what it brings.” 

Croydon Library Campaigners have spoken out on behalf of Croydon residents.  They have tried to spread the word of the decision to ‘market-test’ and are well aware of the grave concerns held in regard to the work of companies such as LSSI.  This is well documented in a series of posts here.  These concerns have been aired at meetings also. 

“We have fantastic library staff who know most people by name and they may not stay. That is a big concern because their presence makes the library what it is, just as much as the books and the building do.”

Anyone in Croydon will be will be aware of the difficulties in libraries. The internal reshuffle has meant a greatly reduced workforce in libraries, often with a constant stream of library staff from all across the borough working in different libraries.  The inevitable result of this is that libraries have staff, many of whom do not know the library, the community it serves, let alone most of its users by name!  

  

This begs the question could it be that some Croydon libraries are not being subjected to the tangible loss of service and problems experienced elsewhere due to this greatly reduced workforce in libraries?

“We want to protect them (the staff) but, ultimately, we are fighting to keep the library open. If we were in one of the nearby London boroughs, the library would have been closed and everything would have gone.”

This overlooks that other London boroughs have saved their library service without closure, including the neighbouring London borough of Merton, and other boroughs such as Hackney, Hillingdon and Tower Hamlets.

Part of the concern of library campaigners and residents has been the vital need to maintain a level of qualified and highly experienced staff.  There has also been a genuine outpouring of concern for the staff themselves. The level of stress staff have been subjected to has been immense and cracks have already started to show in this respect. Library users watch staff struggle to cope with the reduced staffing levels already in place, which has resulted in longer queues, difficulty coping with the workload shared between so few, incorrectly processed loans and the such like. It is distressing to watch committed library staff suffer under such conditions with the threat of further job losses still looming.

Residents and councillors also spoke out at the Labour Shadow Cabinet meeting about concern over this as well as the need to maintain the pay and conditions of staff.

This statement does not represent the views of the residents or other campaign groups in this respect either.

“Croydon agreed this week to market-test the library system….. despite all the philosophical and political arguments, libraries are still closing.”

And goes on to add:

“It seems LSSI has something to offer. We have to be realistic and do what we can to keep libraries open.”

But the Council has already given assurances to keep ALL its libraries open.

At the Shadow Cabinet meeting, councillors, library campaigners and residents voiced concerns about outsourcing, privatisation and the involvement of companies such as LSSI, who have a poor track record, and Laings, who are already heavily involved with Croydon Council. Any involvement with these or other such companies was denied.

What exactly LSSI seems to have to offer is not clear.  If details are available they have certainly not been shared with any other campaign group or resident to anyone’s knowledge.

In conclusion, the misinformation in the statements reported is clearly unhelpful. The statements are not reflective of the real situation, nor reflective of the stance of the various libraries campaign groups in Croydon.  Comments such as these just add further to the scaremongering tactics and misinformation that have been employed throughout this consultation process; a process that has been extremely divisive throughout. They need correcting and we hope we have done so here.

It is important now, more than ever, that all Library campaign groups and communities across the borough continue to work together for the best outcome for our libraries and for the remaining staff who man them. 

Media coverage of Croydon Libraries

We are thankful to the local papers who have given the Libraries Consultation coverage, but we note a reluctance to cover the Libraries issue in any great depth and what has occurred in Sanderstead in particular. We’ve tried to link to the stories and letters printed wherever possible on our website, but this has not always been possible as much of this is not available on line.

We are also very thankful to Inside Croydon who have not only brought the Libraries consultation issue to the fore with their excellent coverage but who have tackled some of the thornier issues. Anyone who has not yet visited Inside Croydon may like to take a look.  They are covering the important issues relevant to Croydon.  The latest article on Croydon Libraries is here.

But why, we wonder, has Croydon gone so very quiet on libraries?

Public Libraries News is keeping a close eye on the situation and has uncovered details that many residents have been unable to find.  In one of their recent posts they comment,

“Croydon also appear to be going down the privatisation route but doesn’t appear to be proud about it.  Their “market sounding exercise” document is almost impossible to find on their website and, also, there is only a fortnight for private companies to register an interest.”

You can read the full Public Libraries News post here.

All 13 libraries are subject of this ‘market testing’ exercise and Croydon claim that they are working with Wandsworth in order to do this.

If you spot any announcement of this in any Croydon library or anywhere else please let us know so we can link to it.  As this decision was taken at Cabinet on 13th June it seems Public Libraries News are right in that Croydon is anything but proud of the decision.