Mayor joins library protest
THE Mayor of Cinderford Max Coborn has taken to the streets to help save the town's library.
Coun Coborn joined protesters in sending a message to the county council that they will not let the library go without a fight.
-
library_protest
The town council is also considering taking legal advice after a Freedom of Information request on why Cinderford Library was earmarked for closure, was turned down.
Speaking at a council meeting Mr Coborn said: "I'm disgusted. For them to say nothing about the decision is a sham.
"They talk about the Big Society but there's not a cat in hell's chance of people taking over the library."
The town council put the FOI request in after fears that the county council was using old data to back up its decisions.
Town clerk Lynda Thomas said: "The figures they are putting forward for Cinderford are well off."
The town council says that the county council is using catchment area figures for Cinderford from 2007 to make their case.
They show a population of 12,253 that are served by Cinderford library compared to the near 18,000 quoted in the current core strategic plan.
Councillors claim that when you take into account the planned library closures in Mitcheldean and Newnham, the East Dean area will be left with a library black hole for 28,000 people.
They say this at odds with other places such as the Cotswolds.
Town, district and county councillor Graham Morgan said: "It is the biggest catchment area in the county without a library.
"It will leave the whole of East Dean totally without library cover which is simply not fair.
"The county council is a disgrace.
They have an obligation to this area and they are not filling it."
Councillors said that the county council argument that library users would travel to Coleford if Cinderford library closed was unrealistic.
They also agreed to show solidarity with town's facing library closures in Somerset.
Protesters are planning to stage another protest outside the library on Friday.
The action coincides with a county council drop-in session between 10am-1pm.
And although the council says library cuts are still going through a consultation, town and district councillor Di Martin criticised the process so far saying: "I filled in the online consultation but is wasn't so much a consultation as a fait accompli."
Councillor Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: "We have been meeting with many different groups in Cinderford to listen to their views and discuss their ideas during this consultation period, and we are holding a drop-in session at the library on January 21."
Comments
by Tom, Hucclecote
Tuesday, January 18 2011, 12:48PM
“With the present crisis facing our Library service will our children be catered for or will history repeat itself within our schools through lack of funding QUOTE...Reading for pleasure in rapid decline as schools can't fund librariesBy LAURA CLARK
Last updated at 01:37 02 October 2007
Children are missing out on reading for pleasure because schools are failing to spend enough money on library books.
The average pupil borrows just one book a term because 'desperate' school libraries are so underfunded and underused.
But at the same time as many schools cut their library budgets, they are also dramatically increasing their spending on computer and IT facilities.
Scroll down for more...
School children take out on average one book a term
The study, conducted for the charity Booktrust by the Institute of Public Finance, reveals 92 per cent of secondary schools and 61 per cent of primaries are failing to provide the recommended number of books for their students.
Secondary-schools spent just £2.67 per head on books and primaries £8.04 - compared to the recommended £14 and £10.
The figures cover novels and nonfiction books, but do not include textbooks, set texts or study guides.
The research also found many libraries have made it increasingly difficult for those children who do wish to read. Half of primary schools close their libraries at break and lunchtimes, while one in 20 ban children from taking books out on loan.
In secondary schools, the study found libraries are often used for other purposes such as 'time out' space and a resting place for sick pupils. Booktrust said effective school libraries are the best way of giving children from all backgrounds the opportunity to enjoy books.
A wealth of previous research had already shown the social and academic benefits to children of reading for pleasure, it added.
Dr Roland Marden, from Booktrust, said: "Access to books makes for good readers - good readers make good learners.
"Yet school libraries are often under-used and undervalued. In many cases across the country, school libraries are failing to fulfil their potential because of limited access to or low levels of funding on books."
Although many schools blamed squeezes on their budgets for the problem, the report, compiled with assistance from Loughborough University, said poor management was also responsible.
It added: "Where there is a dedicated library space, pupil access to it is often restricted by limited opening hours, which impinges on independent reading and borrowing.
"Many primary schools do not seem to know how to manage their school library effectively even if they have the resources available.
"In secondary schools, the infrastructure for running an effective library is more likely to be in place than primary schools.
"However, spending per pupil on library books is lower per head than in primary schools and there are fewer library books per pupils."
National test results for 11-yearolds this summer revealed 40 per cent of children leave primary school without a basic grasp of the three Rs.”