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.

Wake Up New Addo!

Croydon’s New Addington Library is back in the news but the ‘facts’ and even the headline are seriously questionable. You can read the full article here, entitled,  “Council promises no loss of books as New Addington library moves from ‘derelict’ site”

Let’s look at the facts:

Bookstock

“NEW Addington’s library will have the same number of, or more, books when it moves to the Calat Centre, the council has promised.“

The article also adds.

“Council bosses had been unable to guarantee stock levels or space at the relocated library, leaving users fearing they would be left with just a few shelves of books. But a council spokesman told the Advertiser: “Its stock levels will be maintained for borrowing or using on site.”

This fails to mention that the stock now held is hugely reduced in comparison with stock held even a year ago. Books were boxed up and sold off, leaving row after row of bare or near bare shelving.  In some branches shelving and book stands were even removed to try to mask how depleted the stock had become. This was reported here and on insidecroydon.com

Space and facilities

“It will be housed across two floors of the centre in Central Parade, taking up roughly the same floor space – 400 square metres – as it does now.”

The existing building is a single floor building with easy access, large windows offering natural light and a view overlooking grassed areas. The library is open plan, allowing flexible use of space and is for the sole us of the library service. You can visit this ‘derelict’ building, which is no the worse for wear than it has been for many years, still offering a spacious, warm, dry, purpose built space to read, study and research, before the council shuts it, that is!

The CALAT building has had to be extensively modified in order to incorporate the library, meaning greatly reduced offering of Adult Education classes such as basic Literacy and Numeracy courses, IT and the removal of essential facilities, such as back wash sinks in a purpose built room, where very popular vocational courses in hair and beauty were run in the past.

Travel to other centres for vocational and basic educational courses is a huge barrier to many New Addington residents as this requires finding not only the fare to travel but the added time to do so and often the added problem of childcare on top of this, making the additional cost prohibitive.

The library will share the space not only with the CALAT classes but the Job Centre, a nursery, an ICT suite and admin/office areas. Those who know the building well question how the CALAT Centre will be transformed into a tardis to afford the new library facility anything like the spacious area that the current library now occupies.

Additional benefits

The article states that,

“A considerable amount of new stock will be added after consultation, which has been held.”

More stock will only replace the stock removed. With Croydon’s record on consultations it is questionable how many of the suggestions offered will have been genuinely considered.  Who knew of this consultation? The consultation was not even adequately advertised and dates conflicted. Three months on and still no outcome advertised.

And, the article goes on to add,

“The library will have longer opening hours and refreshments facilities.”

Well the CALAT building is already open longer hours as courses are run in the evening.  There is no mention of staffing and Laing will, no doubt, install self-service machines. Is this really a plus?  If access is a plus why has Croydon not made the extremely underused ICT suite in the CALAT Centre available to the public years ago, given the high demand for the computers in the existing library?

And we get refreshments! Well if a couple of vending machines is a selling point Croydon council really are showing their contempt for New Addington residents. These could have been installed in the existing library many years ago if this is what was needed or desired.  By all accounts received, the existing vending machines, housing chocolate bars and snacks has not been replenished for some time.

With many food and beverage outlets offering a choice of well-priced, fresh goods in the parade of shops opposite is there really any demand for pre-packed mechanically-dispensed junk-food items?

The unwitting accomplices

New Addington Pathfinders, a community group, have been used as a pawn in this shambles. Whilst championing the importance of the library for the estate they are taken in by council spin. They have assured residents that anything could be ordered in, failing to realise that DVDs and the like could not, and that any book items ordered incurred a charge.

They readily accept without question that a building that the residents still use is, in fact, derelict, yet have remained silent on the matter for years. They are just thankful that the estate, one of the most deprived areas of Croydon, is not losing the library facility totally!

Whilst more affluent and/or proactive areas such as Old Coulsdon, Norbury, Upper Norwood and Sanderstead are well-represented by local groups,(even if failed by their Residents’ Associations in some cases; Sanderstead’s in particular!) Pathfinders have given up the fight for essential facilities to serve a community ill-equipped to fight the battle for themselves as simply existing, finding work or putting food on the table are higher priority.  The fact that the council plays on the silence of this community because of their vulnerability is sickening.

Wake Up New Addington! You need to stand up to be heard.

Anyone is welcome to post on this blog or get in touch, in confidence.

Croydon stand united on libraries. Be part of the fight back!

Have what little say you can on New Addington Library

The closure of the purpose-built New Addington library is not negotiable, according to sources. The decision was taken without any consultation with library users and local residents.The closure of the library, which many suspect is to make way for a Tesco store or similar, is being pitched to the public as a relocation.

The library will be moved into the nearby CALAT (Adult Education) building, joining CALAT, Job Centre Plus and The Little Stars Nursery, who currently occupy the space. In addition to adding library services the centre will also provide housing and council enquiry services and will be renamed The New Addington Hub.  That’s an awful lot to pack into an already well-occupied and well-used space!

The move has been delayed several times, originally announced by Cllr Sara Bashford back in January 2012, via the local press when she struggled to come up with feasible responses to the obvious questions a move like this raised, such as exactly where would the library space be allocated within the building and she was unable to give any reassurances regarding book stock. Admitting she simply did not know what space the library might be able to occupy seems a very inadequate level of detail on which to base such a major decision.

Since then there has been an extensive cull of books in preparation for the move, leaving row upon row of empty shelves and top shelves ‘filled’ with books displayed, front on, to help fill the void. The valuable courses run at the CALAT Centre have been cut also, as has much of their teaching space, in order to accommodate the new hub.

The latest news though is that a consultation has been launched to find out what library users value, and copies are available in the library yet a press release regarding this is yet to be released.

The consultation is pretty basic. The council are not asking what impact this new arrangement might have on you, the resident, but then it is very difficult to say with such scant information.

If you wish to have what little say the council will permit you to make, you can find the adults’ and the children’s consultation documents on line here: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/consultations/newaddington

The closing date is 21 October, 2012 – a Sunday when not one of Croydon libraries is open to receive your response and Royal Mail will not be delivering.

Unfortunately the hard copies, only just hitting libraries this week, already muddy the waters as they are clearly printed with the closing date of 30th September. No doubt residents will be delighted to learn that that Cllr Tim Pollard, who replaced Cllr ‘Booktoken’ Bashford as lead in the area of libraries, is carrying on the Croydon tradition of flawed library consultations.

Save money by chucking £42K at it, and the rest!

Anyone else find it curious that Cllr Sara Bashford, who gave her assurances that residents would be kept informed of developments on libraries, omitted to mention this position being advertised back in December?

That’s the same Cllr Bashford who assured residents their views would be listened to, yet disregarded the data from parts of the the council consultation document on six libraries as the document was confusing.

The same who took the decision to outsource all 13 libraries on the basis of this flawed consultation, involving just six libraries in any case.

The very same council who got caught out meeting with LSSI before the decision to explore outsourcing was taken.

That’s also the council that have not been able to fully answer FOI requests for the breakdown of responses that Cllr Bashford claims informed the decision to outsource.

The same that assured residents no libraries would close, though since then jointly run Upper Norwood is under threat and then the closure of New Addington was announced. But surely there would be reassurances about how Croydon might provide a service to this area.  Apparently not.  According to the newspaper article Cllr Bashford rubber-stamped the death of New Addington Library without any regard for the space that might be available in the CALAT Centre nor could she give any reassurances about the bookstock that might be accommodated.

Gavin Barwell MP won’t be drawn on the situation, still claiming no library will close.

That’s also the council who have been caught out for not advertising National Libraries Day but then again why would this be any different? Whilst other authorities celebrate libraries and promote the activities they offer Croydon have for some time now been erratic in publicising events, some receiving no publicity at all!

And let’s not forget the great book cull, still continuing to be noted by residents across the borough, which Croydon also failed to mention to residents. Seems less is more.  So Croydon!

The same who kept silent about the shortlisted organisations.

Not a great track record for transparency, is it?

"Residents help shape future of libraries" in Wandsworth

The text from today’s Wandsworth press release can be read in full here.

Wandsworth announce that Friends of Libraries groups could be rolled out to libraries across the borough to create more community involvement in the service. Wandsworth Council has agreed that a Friends of Tooting Library pilot group be established as a model for the creation of similar groups across Wandsworth.The Friends of Tooting Library will be formed of local residents, stakeholders, current library members and those who have been recommended by an existing Friends member.

The group’s primary task will be to support the maintenance and development of the library, ensuring it meets the needs of local people and encourages participation and community involvement.

It will also aim to strengthen partnership working, raise funds, promote and publicise the library’s services, and act as a co-ordinating body for volunteers and the additional services they help deliver at the Tooting site. 

This raises the serious question how it is possible for Wandsworth, a local authority that has made a commitment with Croydon to outsource all libraries in both boroughs, to make such a move whilst still consulting with the undisclosed five short-listed organisations bidding to run libraries in both boroughs.  It certainly did not stop Croydon closing New Addington LIbrary. Nor has it stopped Croydon enlisting volunteers.

The press release goes on to state that,

“The move represents on ongoing drive by the council to give members of the community an opportunity to take part in the running of various services. The founding pilot group will be established by converting the Tooting Library Management Advisory Committee into the Friends of Tooting Library.Decisions of the group on any one topic related to the library would be achieved by majority votes, but individual members would be free to dissent should they wish.”

And Wandsworth’s Cllr Jonathan Cook, Wandsworth’s culture spokesman, is quoted,

“This plan will enable residents to help shape Tooting Library’s future by allowing them to play a part in its maintenance and development. It is designed to allow the community to take a more hands on role in the library that they use, that they are passionate about, and that they want to see thrive.”

More concerning though, Cllr Cook adds,  

“And if the Friends of Tooting Library pilot group proves successful, it is our hope that similar groups will be set up at all of the borough’s libraries so more communities can get involved with their local library.”

How is this possible, in the middle of the outsourcing? Is this the plan on the table for both boroughs or have relationships already broken down?

Transparency and Accountability -The faceless, nameless Croydon spokesman speaks

Croydon library users have grown increasingly concerned about books being boxed up across the borough as no one has seen anything quite like it before.  Previously, any unwanted books have been put on public display for sale.

Croydon Council is aware of the concerns and have contributed comments to an article on the Croydon Advertiser website,  Croydon Council denies book sales mean closures. At the point of posting the website is down so we reproduce the article below. 

So let’s examine the facts.

The Advertiser reports that concerns, or as they put it, ‘rumours’, “have reached a crescendo in recent weeks after library users noticed books being sent away from libraries.”

As a campaign group we are not aware of any library users being concerned about books leaving library premises, just a genuine concern about the visible effects of this unprecedented cull of book stock.

The Advertiser claims that a spokesman for the council stated  that the library service has simply changed the way it handles unneeded stock. This unidentified council officer claims that instead of trying to sell unused and tatty books to library users, libraries sell their books to company Revival Books, which recycles or donates the books.

We think this story again demonstrated the Advertiser’s unwavering trust that what they are told by the council is completely true and warrants no further investigation.

Here’s what Revival Books themselves claim to do. You can find Revival Books here: http://www.revivalbooks.co.uk/Site_3/Libraries.html, and we quote,

“We seek to find a second life for as many of the books as possible and we sell these in retail outlets or on the Internet.  Working with a paper recycling partner we recycle any books we do not use and these books are pulped for on-going use.”

So Revival Books do not, as the Advertiser claims to have been told by this faceless, nameless council spokesperson, just recycle or donate the books that they collect.  Where is the economic sense in that? Their prime motive is to sell off, for profit, any book stock they can through a network of retail outlets and on the internet. And if you click here you can see a list of all those currently for sale.

It’s not just the new practice of boxing up stock that is concerning residents, it is the sheer scale of the exercise that is causing alarm, evidenced by the appearance of rows of empty shelves in some branches and the complete removal of carousels, previously packed full of paperbacks, in at least one library. 

The Advertiser goes on to report that this faceless, nameless spokesperson claimed that,

 “the new approach generates money and means none of the books has to go to landfill.”

Surely this is a terrible admission that the council have been dumping all their excess books in landfill sites whilst expecting residents to recycle. Did the reporter not think to question this?

The faceless, nameless council spokesman goes on to offer,

“There aren’t going to be any closures. There are clearly some people out there who are deliberately trying to raise concerns by getting library users needlessly worried about non-existent library closure plans.”

Croydon Library Campaigners were first to break this story and we know residents have made direct contact with the Advertiser to pass information to them.  Why is it that the Advertiser declines to speak with the residents and campaigners highlighting these issues and swallows completely the clearly flawed offerings of a council spokesperson who is clearly unwilling even to be identified?

Let’s not forget either that it was the Advertiser who broke the story of New Addington Library closing, which we have already covered here http://soslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-libraries-closing-in-croydon-hip-hip.html. How can the same paper print something that directly contradicts their own exclusive about the New Addington closure?

The Advertiser is also the same paper to report positive progress on Upper Norwood Joint Library, which we covered here. Given the evidence it seems this is anything but the case.

And we also put our questions to Cllr Bashford, where we covered the issue of the concerns on the massive cull of book stock, which we reproduce again here:

Certainly the book stock being removed is not being replaced with anything like a similar volume of new stock.  No wonder residents and campaigners are concerned, and rightly so. 

If the council really wishes to allay residents’ fears wouldn’t the easiest option be to give residents clear and correct information?  

No wonder this council spokesperson wished to remain nameless. Shouldn’t this coyness to be named, coupled with all the glaring flaws in what he had to offer, have given rise to caution before the Advertiser went on to print yet more incorrect information?  We certainly think so. 

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.