Councillor Morrison leads fight over proposed library closure - Over 110 people attend Library consultation meeting!

28/08/2010

0 Comments

 
St Saviours Church Hall saw a packed library consultation meeting on Monday 23 August.  Local residents made it clear that they wanted to keep their library and gave examples of the way the library had benefitted the community and their families. 

The meeting called on the Council to develop plans that retained the library service and the building and looked at creative ways of extending services and generating income.  

Councillor Morrison spoke about the need to develop employment skills workshops and computer classes by utilising the well equipped computer suite   

Officers will consider the outcomes of all the consultation meetings and come back with revised plans before October.  

In the meantime the fight goes on!
Picture
Add Comment
 

Save Crofton Park Library

31/07/2010

2 Comments

 
Picture
The new government has placed stringent budget cuts on Local Authorities.LBL Lewisham has to make over £60m worth of cuts - £3.1m in the current financial year.

Part of the Council’s draft, officer proposals include the closure of 5 libraries:

  • Crofton Park
  • Blackheath
  • Grove Park
  • Sydenham
  • New Cross
At a meeting with officers and some stake holders we were informed that there was a need to have a more flexible service but this was difficult due to the poor buildings.  Crofton Park is a beautiful building that we all love, ( I used it 30 years ago with my children).  However there is subsidence and the upstairs is in need of considerable capital repair works.

The downstairs is a thriving library (Nobody is questioning its usage) with a very well used computer suite.

I am backing the campaign to “Save Crofton Park Library” and would prefer to see it made available for use by the voluntary sector  and local businesses, when the library is closed  (equivalent to 5 days – including evenings).

In times of high job losses and the closure of job centres, the Computer Suite should be made available to the public for: computer training, job clubs and research

Most of us take our computer for granted and under estimate the numbers of local people who do not have access to a computer and need training to use one.

I would prefer to see officers work to develop the existing library to fully exploit its facilities and develop some income generation to help keep the library local for local people.

Cllr Pauline Morrison

2 Comments