Irresponsible Lambeth, apparently

This week sees the Croydon Guardian running a letter from Croydon Conservative Cllr Eddy Arram, reacting to the words of Croydon Labour Cllr Maggie Mansell and accusing Lambeth of acting in,

"such an irresponsible and damaging way"

over Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL).

Cllr Mansell's thoughts were recorded in the eXtra section of the Croydon Guardian, which is no longer available, but if we can secure a copy we will be happy to update this post.

This week's letter can be found on page 14 here.  We reproduce the letter below.

Cllr Arram's letter in this week's Croydon Guardian

Cllr Arram states that,

"Because Lambeth Councillors failed to meet its responsibilities and duties by taking up their places on the UNJLA (Upper Norwood Joint Library Authority) committee, thus making it unable to operate, it does not mean Croydon Council will act in such an irresponsible way."

We hope the reader gets the gist of what Cllr Arram is attempting to say but we seriously question the validity of his point, as we will go on to explain.


At the public meeting held in November 2011 many of the Croydon Labour and Lambeth Labour councillors were present, including Cllr Florence Nosegbe, who had another engagement but knew the importance of attending.  The hall was packed out, with standing room only.

And where was Cllr Sara Bashford, Cllr Nosegbe's counterpart from Croydon? Nowhere to be seen, nor was any other Croydon Conservative councillor. It became clear that this was not the first time. Cllr Nosegbe explained how, having set a meeting date with Croydon to try to resolve the stalemate over UNJL, the meeting was cancelled at very short notice and therefore no meeting had yet taken place.

It was agreed  that further attempts should be made to try to get Croydon to co-operate, some might even say to act in a responsible manner, and agree to a meeting together to sit around the table and plan the way forward.


The background to the current UNJL saga can be found here, including the three options Croydon have put to Lambeth.

1. Buy Croydon’s half share of all UNJL assets and accept responsibility for the UNJL.
2.  Take a lease of Croydon's half share in the premises and become solely responsible for the UNJL.
3. Agree that the library will be sold with the proceeds, after settlement of all costs, equally divided between the two boroughs.

So when Cllr Arram speaks of acting in "such an irresponsible and damaging way" perhaps he should take a look at his own Council's track record and actions. Croydon's refusal to meet and the only options given to Lambeth which absolve Croydon of any responsibility for this library, used by its residents, seems far from responsible or constructive.

Joint Open letter to Ed Vaizey - Croydon contribute

Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries (FOGL)  produced a joint open letter to Ed Vaizey. The letter, which you can view here, is now closed for signatures, but well worth reading, along with the comments made by authors, campaigners and library supporters from across the country.

The letter wide attention and support during the short time it was open and is still being reported in the press.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/15/library-closures-writers-ed-vaizey-letter
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Library-campaigners-letter-minister-backed/story-14142700-detail/story.html
and the latest article just this week http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/9443457.Library_campaigners_hit_out_at_culture_minister/

Croydon library supporters and campaigners contributed.  We produce the entries here. If we've missed your entry please let us know!

contribution from Old Coulsdon resident

Contribution of the Save Croydon Libraries Campaign group

Croydon library campaigner

The link in this post is  http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/breakdown_of_responses_to_librar#incoming-191819 .

The request was denied because:

Quite extraordinary that the information is not readily available if it has really already been fully collated and analysed.


FOGL have delivered the letter to Mr Vaizey.  Will it have the desired effect?  We hope so!

If you want to follow any updates on this letter you can follow FOGL on their blog at http://foclibrary.wordpress.com/ or on twitter at @FOGLibraries

Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL) faces an uncertain future

The unilateral decision by Croydon Council to 'terminate' the Upper Norwood Library Joint Agreement was, according to Croydon, the direct consequence of a

 "...fundamental breach of the agreement by Lambeth Council". 

 Such breach, according to Croydon, was the refusal by Lambeth Council, 

"....to attend the last Annual General Meeting and failing to co-operate at the 2010 meeting."

Lambeth Council contend that it was in fact Croydon Council that breached requirements of the UNJL Agreement that each council should appoint two local ward councillors to the Library Committee, and that any disputes or disagreements should be referred for arbitration.

Croydon Council’s response was to despatch, without prior notification to Lambeth Council or the Library staff, nine council officers who announced they were taking "...interim management control", conducting Health and Safety, Human Resources and Internal Finances Audit, despite the UNJL being an independent library and not part of Croydon or Lambeth’s Centralised Library Service.

The UNJL’s independent status has enabled it to be 50% more efficient in cost terms, than Croydon and Lambeth’s library services.

Croydon have now given Lambeth three options. 

1. Buy Croydon’s half share of all UNJL assets and accept responsibility for the UNJL.
2.  Take a lease of Croydon's half share in the premises and become solely responsible for the UNJL.
3.  Agree that the library will be sold with the proceeds, after settlement of all costs, equally divided between the two boroughs.

Despite Croydon’s claimed support for the Upper Norwood Library, these options provide little reassurance for the future of the 111 year old Library. 

Following Croydon Council’s recent decision to privatise its entire library service, Crystal Palace Community Association (CPCA) has called a public meeting to provide an update on the situation and launch the next phase of the Library Campaign.

The public meeting will be held:

 Wednesday 30^th November

7.30 pm 

Salvation Army Hall

58 Westow St

Upper Norwood 

SE19 3AF

Google map and directions here

Useful links:

Crystal Palace Community Association
c/o 10 Jasper Road, London SE19 1SJ
tel/fax:  020 8670 4395
www.cpca.org.uk

Upper Norwood Library Campaign

5 Becondale Road SE19 1QJ

www.unlc.org.uk

Shh! Sanderstead Library's 75th Birthday Celebrations

Those who might be interested in the details of the Celebration Week to commemorate Sanderstead Library's 75th Birthday (which was actually in May) have found details are not available on the Council's website.  Such a shame after the council took the trouble to provide some rather sketchy and inaccurate details to the local press some weeks back, including mention of a birthday celebration at 4pm on Wednesday 19th.

The correct details, as far as we can ascertain, are reproduced below, as listed in a flyer available in the library.

And for those wondering what form the exciting special birthday celebration referred to in the article might be there is still no clue on the Council website, nor any detail that this is anything other than a normal event.

But we have managed to find details on a leaflet, only available in Sanderstead Library, and here it is....

Cue drumroll......

Participants may bring a cake along to the usual Wednesday Storytime, held at 4pm. You may also bring a cake to celebrate at 10am and 11am on the day too!

So there you have it.  Happy Birthday Sanderstead!

The fight for libraries continues - Croydon and UNJL

Two letters appeared in last week's Croydon Advertiser.

Councillor Wayne Lawlor's letter makes the case that the appointment of Conservative Councillors is a betrayal of the wishes of local people, residents who elected Labour councillors as their representatives.

This is followed by a letter from Mike Warwick, Crystal Palace Community Association (CPCA), that sets out clear concerns regarding the stance taken by Croydon's Conservative-led Council and the possible motives behind this.

Political football - Upper Norwood Joint Library

Croydon Advertiser's The Insider made comment on the Upper Norwood Joint Library committee.  It seems that there is some history to the current stalemate over membership of the joint committee.  The article is not on line, as far as we are aware but you can read it here:

Controversy over Upper Norwood library committee

Controversy ensues over the decision taken by Croydon's Conservative-run council to appointment Conservative councillors to represent Croydon on the library committee, rather than Labour councillors who were elected by local residents in the area.

Lambeth councillors refused to attend the AGM of the joint committee meeting in protest against a breach of the rules.

 Crystal Palace Community Association claims that Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher is aware that he is obliged, under the terms of the joint library agreement, to appoint two opposition members to the committee. They go on to state,

"This would remove his ability to force through the sort of damaging measures that are being inflicted on Croydon's libraries, such as significant staff redundancies, reduced opening, privatisation or closure."

The full Croydon Guardian article is available on line here: Councillors boycott library committee over 'rule breach'