Croydon libraries survey and a flyer with useful info to help you and others respond

The Croydon libraries consultation has been extended until 16 May 2016 as so few responses had been received by the original closing date.

Few still know of the consultation, so please spread the word.

Be aware that people who have completed the online survey have had issues. See the notes on page 2 of the flyer below.

Download the flyer here.

Download a copy of the Croydon library survey, here.

Do let us know your thoughts...

Have your say ....the Croydon libraries survey

The ruling Labour administration claim to be ambitious for libraries yet it is unclear how they could be any more unambitious for libraries or in seeking the views of residents.

The survey
It helps the council officer responsible if you can complete the survey online, but it is useful to view the documents before you attempt to do it online so you have time to consider your answers and in order to avoid the issues people have had, as listed below.

Please keep a note of the responses you give, particularly your comments, so we can be sure they are reflected in the final report. These can be emailed to SaveCroydonLibraries@gmail.com

If you prefer to do a paper copy, don't be put off from doing so.

One library at least has been given paper copies to offer out yet others have no paper copies at all Some residents have managed to get a copy by post, others have been denied this.

 This is far from a fair process.

And the survey has been widely criticised, both by those who have managed to access it and by those from further afield.

Please complete it online, which you can find here: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/ambitious4libraries

or complete a hard copy, which you can request from a library, or which you can download to use and share with others by clicking on the link below.

'Libraries for the future - we want your views' survey 

Please keep a copy so we can be sure that all views offered are registered.

And don't forget to book to attend the meeting called by the community.  Places are limited.  See details and link below.

THE BACKGROUND:

Misinformation and scare tactics
First, the Croydon rumour mill went into overdrive, with Timothy Godfrey, the Cabinet member responsible, making a statement about having no legal duty to provide anything other than the statutory ones for Croydon which might be interpreted as just Croydon Central Library.

There were rumours of an engagement exercise, but the details could not be found. This is all based on Croydon Labour's pre-election promise to reverse the sell-off of Croydon libraries, with grand statements about commitments to rip-up the libraries contract with Carillion prior to the election, a plan that was shelved when in power.

Failure to consult
The consultation/engagement/survey was launched very quietly in late March, with no details on display in libraries and no consultation documents on offer in libraries, and the council officer responsible emphatic that there would be no notices or displays to advertise the consultation, nor paper copies made available as the survey must be completed online.

Those wanting a paper copy have to request one, in person, at a library. Their process advised was that the details would be taken and passed to the council officer who would then post a single copy out.  In some cases at least, the request had to go via the library manager before being passed on. Some residents have received a copy via this route.  Others have not.

Those completing it online express concerns about the survey being hard to complete, playing up or that it closes before the respondent has had a chance to say all they want to say.

The only meeting on libraries is one by the community
There are no public meetings planned, only focus groups, the location and time of which are secret. There is a public meeting called to discuss the issue, but this is a meeting called by the residents for the residents. Whether or not Cllr Timothy Godfrey will attend remains unclear, as was the case when he failed to respond to requests to attend a meeting, again called by the community, on the fate of the Fairfield Halls.  Cllr Lynne Hale has accepted the invitation to attend and Conservative councillors have given some indication that they are concerned about the lack of clarity on plans and the poor advertising of engagements on Croydon libraries and on Croydon parks...

Please book a place if you plan to attend as demand is likely to exceed capacity. For details and updates, see: https://croydoncc.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/ccc-public-meeting-on-libraries-tues-26-april-2016/

Croydon's ambition for libraries is on the line

In opposition, Croydon Labour promised to rip up the library contract.

Their pre-election campaign was focussed on being 'Ambitious for Croydon'. See the manifesto here, which includes:

But, once in power, Croydon Labour went rather quiet on the matter of ripping up the libraries contract.

Whatever happened to that ambition?

A jumble of languages; not the ordered packed
shelves of a few years ago.

In opposition, they were keen to seek the help and advice of Tim Coates.

In power, they didn't even respond when they were advised that Tim had offered to travel to the UK, at his cost, to advise again on Croydon Libraries.

That's hardly ambitious.


The libraries have continued to flounder - less stock, fewer staff, and appalling promotion of what Croydon libraries have to offer.

It's lucky the lack of staffing doesn't show.

Do you think this is at all ambitious for libraries? 

It's not really clear how ambition features in what many view as a 'fingers firmly plugged in the ears, hands firmly clasped across the eyes' approach to tackling the issue at hand.

Messages featured on desks on entire floors of Central Library.

Rather than rip up the contract with Carillion, or hold Carillion to account for the service they are contracted to offer, Croydon Council has come up with... Ambitious for Libraries


The plan goes to the Cabinet meeting on Monday 21 March 2016, which includes a consultation period from 22 March through to May 2, 2016.

You can find the papers here:
Cabinet Meeting, Agenda item 8:
Ambitious for the Library Service in Croydon - gaining the views of the community

When asked what people thought previously, Croydon residents gave a clear message. 
You can find the details, here.

Croydon residents valued their libraries and the experienced staff that delivered the service so well; a service now ripped to shreds by privatisation. They did not want to run their libraries, nor feel equipped to do so.

Whether or not the current administration is really ambitious to address the steep decline in Croydon library services, only time will tell.

Let's hope for proper consultation this time round.