Barnet UNISON: ‘Statement on the council’s report ‘Barnet future library service’

The council’s proposal “Barnet future library service” is a plan to replace qualified, experienced staff who have a wide range of skills and knowledge with volunteers and machines, and to reduce the size and quality of libraries. The people of Barnet, including our members, did not march, lobby, sign petitions and respond to the consultation in support of volunteer and machine operated libraries. They were defending a service staffed by real library staff, libraries with enough space for people to study, use IT facilities and to house sufficient items for loan to meet the needs of their users. If the proposal is adopted then Barnet libraries will no longer offer a service that meets the needs of the people of the borough and this will lead into a decline in use and a rationale for further cuts and closure.

● If the proposal is adopted 46% of library posts will be cut

● Staffed hours at libraries will be reduced by 70.4%

● 90% of the planned technology supported opening hours will have no staffing or volunteer support

● Four partnership libraries will be run by volunteers and open only for a minimum of 15 hours per week

● Libraries will be reduced in size, and only four will retain enough space to host events such as story times and authors’ talk

This proposal will not only lead to a decline in the quality and range of the Library Service but will be unjustifiably expensive to implement, costing £7.56m. This is 4.4 times as much as the cuts to be made in in the library service annual operational budget. Barnet UNISON also have concerns regarding the safety of unstaffed ibraries, particularly on how libraries will be evacuated in the event of an emergency, and how anti-social behaviour will be deal with. These issues remain to be sufficiently address by the council.

Barnet UNISON calls on the council to

· Withdraw the proposal

· Retain direct provision of the Library Service

Changes to the Library Service should only be made after the council:

1. Undertake a rigorous and comprehensive equality impact assessment of the potential effect of the technology-enabled opening hours

2. Include the impact on staff in any equality analysis.

3. Run a consultation process that prioritises the views of service users and groups and organisations that are potential users of library services and facilities.

 

Hugh Jordan, Branch Health and Safety Officer/Libraries Convenor, Barnet UNISON