Crofton Park Labour Party

Councillor Pauline Morrison is to provide an employment service in Crofton Park Community Library.  Cllr Morrison, one of the leaders of the Save Crofton Park Library Campaign said: “I volunteer in the Library twice a week and thought that this was agood use of my time and experience in this time of high unemployment.  I will be happy to help local people with their CV, job search, interview skills and any other support in their search for a job.  The service will be free but a donation to the library would be appreciated."

For more information please contact Councillor Pauline Morrison, 020 8244 5315.
Email: pauline.s.morrison@ntlworld.com

It is business As usual at Crofton Park Library.  Councillor Morrison formally opened the library on the 31 May, the day the library was handed over to Darren Taylor of Eco Computers.  Using willing volunteers, the library has maintained normal opening hours and also opens at lunchtimes.  Cllr Morrison said that “We are in a period of transition as new systems and staffing are established. I volunteer to provide lunchtime cover a couple of times a week and encourage others to get involved in a very rewarding activity.”

If you would like to volunteer in your library, then ask for a form at the library desk.

As reported recently, Cllr Morrison, a group of residents and community groups have been working with Darren Taylor of Eco Computers to see how we could maintain a library and other community facilities at Crofton Library.
 
We have been meeting on a regular basis and have now formed a “Shadow Board” to support Darren’s bid as our preferred bidder.  Our vision for Crofton Park Library is to attract investment into the library (which Darren’s bid does) so that the upstairs can be repaired and brought into use.


We could then have a community café, community space for groups to use, training opportunities and a library. If you want to see Darren’s work then visit Pepys Community Library at Deptford Strand SE8.
 
We will then be looking for volunteers to get involved – Could that be YOU?

Crofton Park, Blackheath, Grove Park, New Cross, and Sydenham libraries have all been closed by the Mayor and Cabinet.

Officers have been asked to work on proposals to deliver community libraries in these areas..

As Part of the Save the Libraries Campaign, a read in was held in each of the 5 libraries marked for closure to demonstrate people’s love of their libraries and the importance of books.  Author Leslie Davies read an extract from her book “Alexandria”, which is about the murder of a librarian. 

Councillor Morrison read Maya Angelou’s poem, “The Human Family” and former Head Librarian,
Gwen Randall, read “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” a nonsense poem hi lighting the nonsense of Library Closures.  This was a very well attended event.

Cllr Morrison and Karen Jonason held a meeting in the Library on Saturday 8 January, with groups and individuals  who are interested in the future of the Library.  A number of local Groups and residents attended and had meaningful discussions   about their interest.
 
Lewisham Council has invited bids from interested groups and they will examine their business case.  It was clear that although a number of groups would like to operate out of the library they did not have the resources to take over and develop a building that is in a very poor state of repair.
 
One interested person wants to make a bid for 4 out of 5 libraries see the  link below, with a library service and computers being the core functions. He was keen to work with local groups and community.  This gained a lot of interest from those present and a lot of conversations will be taking place before bids are submitted.  We will have a follow up meeting at the library on 31 January when he will present his bid to everyone before the bid goes into to Lewisham Council to be scrutinised by the Council.
 
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23909459-ex-city-mans-plan-for-eco-libraries.do
 

After a tough campaign to save the five Lewisham libraries that are under the threat of closure, the Mayor deferred the decision to close them for up to two months and has ordered officers to do more work  for proposals on alternative provision.
 
Cllr Morrison has been talking to officers about finding an appropriate community organisation that would be prepared to oversee a  significant library provision for Crofton Park.