Libraries and books; what’s their future in the electronic information age?

4:57pm Monday 8th October 2012 in Blogs 2013 Photograph of the Author By Malcolm Guest

Libraries and books; what’s their future in the electronic information age? Libraries and books; what’s their future in the electronic information age?

‘Worcestershire County Council’ claim that it has “the best value county council library service in the UK”, delivering more for less, and costing “just 20p per county resident per week”.

So would a proposed brand new smaller library, built by the side of the old Parkside School building in Bromsgrove, be an improvement on the present one. I went to the public meeting held at the present town library, on the evening of 2nd October 2012, where the County Council’s ‘Library and Learning Team’ were present, to find out – the public consultation process ends on the 12th October 2012, questionnaires’ being available online at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/bromsgrovelibrary

We were told there that the cost of this new library and the refurbishment of the adjacent old Parkside School building for Council services would be £7 million and that the money was available.

On display were pictures of the abandoned decaying old school building, and a plan diagram of the proposed development on the Parkside site; yet no artist impressions to show what the inside and outside of a new library or the refurbished old school building might look like, so we could get some idea of what £7 million could achieve.

I was surprised though to be told that the old school building that was opened in 1912 and that closed its doors in Easter 2008 did not require double glazed windows; so what would the annual cost be of keeping this old building warm I wonder?

The present library has an adjacent free car park, yet it looks unlikely that a new library would have any library parking at all and the nearest bus stops are a long walk away; so can this smaller library really be better.

Well the controversial iconic building in Worcester called the ‘Hive’, that cost £60 million to construct, has within it a super public library, with 10,000m2 of public space over five floors, a quarter of a million books, and anticipates having over one million visitors a year.

While saving money by down-sizing can sometimes be a financial disaster; as was the case with the saga involving Bromsgrove’s Market Hall, which was demolished in April 2010, after Bromsgrove District Council claimed that it had been losing £4,000 a month.

Built 15 years earlier for half a million pounds, to replace the larger older Market Hall, and another £35,000 to demolish it to create another car park; the perceived view of the Council was that the building was unsuitable for other uses and that it had to be demolished to save money. Yet it’s claimed that a new smaller library would have more space for adult and children’s learning, extra meeting space, increased wifi and internet access, a cafe and longer opening hours.

Libraries are an obvious easy target when having to decide where financial priorities lie; but they are an essential part of a civilised society - Libraries and Learning services’ purchase approximately 97,000 books a year; over 25,000 young people between 13 and 19 years old regularly use the library and there are 183 adult readers groups based in libraries.

So give us all the important facts before committing such vast sums of money on libraries as we’re still seeing millions of pounds wasted after bad decision making - the latest incompetence involving the bidding for the ‘West Coast Main Line’.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that his department's mistakes would cost the taxpayer at least 40 million pounds; a relatively small but politically awkward sum. So is half a million, or even seven million pounds, classed as only a small sum by some of our Councilors’; if things do not turn out as originally expected.

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Comments(1)

Tony Hall says...
12:38pm Fri 12 Oct 12

This is the case for moving Bromsgrove library, as shown on Worcestershire County Council’s webpage.

The vision for libraries

The vision for libraries in Worcestershire is that they are at the heart of their communities. They are embedded and shaped by the local community. Consultation offers the Bromsgrove community the opportunity to shape the future of library provision in their area.

The Issue

We are all aware of the pressure to reduce the national deficit, which has reduced the amount of funding available to local authorities. The County Council has to deliver £1.8m savings across the whole library service and as a result all library services are under review in order to balance the budget.

In May 2011 the County Council's Cabinet confirmed their commitment to avoid closing libraries wherever possible and to work with local communities to find affordable and sustainable ways of retaining local Libraries and Learning services at the centre of a community.

The existing Bromsgrove library in Stratford Road is too small for the size of town and is located in a building that is in a poor state of repair, has no flexible spaces for learning and no facility for shared spaces with other services which reduces costs; a key service priority.

The Proposal

Proposals are currently being considered for creating a new library facility which will provide enhanced library services, both traditional and reflecting the digital age, in a modern extension to the Grade II listed former school building adjacent to the Parkside Crossroads which is formed by the junction of Birmingham Road, Stourbridge Road and Market Street - a key strategic and gateway location for the new Town Centre development.

Alongside the library facility a sympathetic conversion of the listed building would additionally provide for a new Customer Service Centre, Registry Office, Community Hall, District Council Chamber and offices for Bromsgrove District and Worcestershire County Councils’ Bromsgrove based services. This would bring the access point for all Council services under one roof, effectively extending the range of services available from your library and ensuring it is positioned at the heart of Bromsgrove Worcestershire County Council are working with Bromsgrove District Council on this proposal to provide a community use for the Listed building which ensures its long term future and maintains it as a heritage asset for the Town Centre., This is an ideal opportunity to use the Listed Building to provide an asset for the community. Due to the size of the library and its large customer base this project as a whole will not be viable without the library. Neither are there other viable private sector led proposals for use of the Listed Building.

The Regeneration of Bromsgrove would benefit from this proposal for the use of the listed building. As a site potentially employing several hundred people in the town centre and attracting hundreds of service users into the shopping area it has been a key factor in attracting a proposed redevelopment of the site at the Birmingham Road / Stourbridge Road Junction opposite the Listed Building by a leading retailer.

The relocation of the library, together with the move of the Fire Station and Police St to a brand new Campus off Slideslow Drive, will also release the Windsor Street Site for redevelopment to add to the range of development sites in the town centre. These are mapped in the Town Centre Area Action Plan and include land for new retail stores, leisure and evening destinations, residential units, public service facilities and commercial offices and employment sites together with the requisite transport infrastructure and accessibility requirements.

The Parkside development could offer the opportunity to re-locate the library into a new purpose built facility integrated with other council services and this could allow the following enhanced benefits to library customers.
 Long term sustainability of a Library in Bromgrove
 Access to a broader range of services under one roof including registration services and the council hub
 Extension to current library opening hours
 Dedicated spaces for adult learning
 Dedicated spaces for children's activities
 Meeting space for local people and groups
 Increase capacity for Internet access and WiFi
 A flexible and welcoming community meeting space
 A café
 Public toilets including baby change facilities and disabled toilets
 Parking for disabled users
 Plasma screens
 Buggy park
 Closer to the town centre

No decisions have been made so please tell us what YOU think
We would be delighted to hear your views and comments on the Proposal to move the library. We would also welcome your ideas about what other facilities you might like to see in your new library.

Please contribute by completing this questionnaire by 12th October.
Bromsgrove Library Questionnaire
Alternatively, please download a printable version (26 KB). The addresses that the completed questionnaires can be handed into are listed at the end.

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