{"id":1222,"date":"2014-11-06T16:55:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T16:55:20","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-05-04T14:47:44","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T13:47:44","slug":"2020-a-not-lot-of-library-space-odyssey-open-the-library-doors-please-hal-holographic-artificial-librarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/2014\/11\/06\/2020-a-not-lot-of-library-space-odyssey-open-the-library-doors-please-hal-holographic-artificial-librarian\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 \u2013 A (not lot of) Library Space Odyssey \u2013\u201cOpen the Library doors please HAL:\u201d (Holographic Artificial Librarian)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Tuesday at a full Council Meeting it was voted by a majority of one to go ahead with the Libraries Strategy.<\/span> <\/span>Three options are to be offered for the future of libraries, but no matter which one is chosen the following results will apply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well before\u00a0 2020\u00a0 Barnet Libraries will have been replaced\u00a0 by\u00a0 a\u00a0 number\u00a0 of\u00a0 libraries in the borough either run for profit by a private enterprise, or\u00a0 by a mutual struggling to survive, or by community groups with insufficient resources.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Up to two in three library jobs will have gone. They will be replaced by volunteers and machines.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Most surviving libraries will\u00a0\u00a0 be smaller, being only 540 square feet in area. Book and audio-visual stock will be reduced, cutting choice. There will be less computers for the public to use and less study space available. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Libraries will be unsafe. For most of its\u2019 opening times a library will not have any staff (or even volunteers) on site. Access will be gained through a swipe card. Unsocial behaviour and theft are not\u00a0\u00a0 unknown in libraries today despite staff being on site. The Council will replace on site staffing at these times by CCTV, and \u201cremote voice or video information\u201d. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

These changes\u00a0\u00a0 will result in disaster for the service, and will discourage use by the public, increasing the likelihood of more closures in the years to come.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

UNISON oppose the Library Strategy and call for its replacement with a plan for\u00a0 that will benefit all those who have a stake a real Library Service.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Join your union in resisting the Council\u2019s attack on libraries and library workers implicit in the Library Strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Tuesday at a full Council Meeting it was voted by a majority of one to go ahead with the Libraries Strategy. Three options are to be offered for the future of libraries, but no matter which one is chosen the following results will apply. Well before\u00a0 2020\u00a0 Barnet Libraries will have been replaced\u00a0 by\u00a0 a\u00a0 number\u00a0 of\u00a0 libraries in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4501,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions\/4501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.barnetunison.me.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}