The Open Plus Library – The Job Minus Library
The Council are considering options for the future of the Library Service. £2.8 million is to be cut from the Library budget with up to 68% of this coming from staffing. There is no option for the Service to remain in-house.
As part of this review process the long awaited (threatened?) Open+ Pilot started at Edgware Library this week. This allow members of the public to enter the Library before and after staffed opening hours. If the Council deem the pilot a success it will be extended to all of Barnet Library Service.
Extending access appears to be a good development, but it will result in fewer Library staff and less staffed opening hours. The Council has stated:
“The use of technology can now allow the Council to open and close a library without the need for any staff to be on site – the ‘open’ library” (Libraries Strategy: 1.15)
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“To achieve the level of savings required from the service will require a reduction in staffed opening hours.” (Libraries Strategy: 1.16)
The Council are considering having staff present for only 50% of current Library opening hours.
But the drive to remove experienced, qualified and dedicated Library worker from our Libraries does not stop there. The Council are contemplating a:
“Move to an entirely unstaffed opening model. The third approach would still require staffing to maintain effective running of the library (for example in re-stocking) but these would not be offering information and advice to visitors. Some of this work could be done by volunteers.”
(Libraries Strategy: Appendix A Library Options Paper October 2014 6.8)
The Open+ Library Project will lead to posts being cut, and a decline in the quality of Barnet Libraries. UNISON have opposed this since the Council’s intentions were announced last autumn. The next step in this struggle and the fight to save all Council Services is the industrial action on July 8th.