Group sought to run Blackburn's Roman Road Library (From Lancashire Telegraph)
When news happens, text LT and your photos and videos to 80360. Or contact us by email or phone.
Group sought to run Blackburn's Roman Road Library
9:00pm Monday 22nd August 2011 in News
TRIAL Roman Road Library
A TRIAL scheme where a community group takes over the running of a Blackburn library has been given the go-ahead by councillors.
Town hall bosses want to save just over £500,000 from the borough’s £2million library budget over the next two years.
One of the solutions is seen as the creation of a series of “gateway” libraries — with friends’ groups paid by the council to assume the management of some of the borough’s smaller facilities.
Roman Road Library will be the pilot for the move, where it is envisaged the change will save around £36,000 per year.
Blackburn with Darwen Council are now tendering to see what groups would be interested in the proposition.
Coun Damien Talbot, executive member for leisure and culture, said the move was a way of “reducing costs but still ensuring residents have access to facilities”.
He said: “We want to work with partner organisations and community groups to see how they can play a role in the management of the building and offer services alongside ours.
“At the public consultation, the community sent a clear message that they wanted to retain library provision in the existing building but were quite supportive and interested in looking at options for shared usage.”
If the gateway model proves successful then it could result in similar provisions being introduced at Mill Hill’s New Chapel Street library and Livesey Library in Cherry Tree Lane.
Library service manager Kath Sutton, in a report to the council’s executive, admitted the stock will be limited, there may be fewer computers and opening hours could be reduced.
Books could still be ordered from other branches and a full range of book clubs and literacy programmes offered.
The opening hours at the borough’s main libraries in Blackburn and Darwen have already been reduced.
Comments(7)
Mill62
says...
11:08pm Mon 22 Aug 11
the council instead of councillors?
Now that would save an awful lot of
money.
Excluded again
says...
6:47am Tue 23 Aug 11
Mill62 wrote:Good idea.
Why not have community groups running
the council instead of councillors?
Now that would save an awful lot of
money.
Of course, we would have to choose which members of the community. Perhaps we should do this once a year to try to keep them on their toes. We could call this way of choosing members of the community elections.
Speaking as a Darrener, I would not like the community group to be fully mad eup of people from Blackburn. I suggest we should divide the area up inot roughly equal areas and elect 2 or 3 people from each area to represent us in the community group.
Sounds like a plan.
britguy
says...
7:51am Tue 23 Aug 11
Excluded again
says...
8:39am Tue 23 Aug 11
Excluded again wrote:The biggest part (about half) goes on Education. The next biggest part (about one sixth) goes on social services - care for the elderly, disabled etc.
Mill62 wrote:Good idea.
Why not have community groups running
the council instead of councillors?
Now that would save an awful lot of
money.
Of course, we would have to choose which members of the community. Perhaps we should do this once a year to try to keep them on their toes. We could call this way of choosing members of the community elections.
Speaking as a Darrener, I would not like the community group to be fully mad eup of people from Blackburn. I suggest we should divide the area up inot roughly equal areas and elect 2 or 3 people from each area to represent us in the community group.
Sounds like a plan.
The remaining third goes on rubbish collection, road maintenance, street lighting, parks, libraries, leisure centres, cemetaries, community centres, trading standards, support to new businesses, grass cutting, road sweeping, planning enforcement and regulation, dog wardens and a few other things besides.
district01
says...
11:30am Tue 23 Aug 11
.
If your really wanting to reduce council costs have a closer look at the higher ranking staff members salaries!
Jim O'Neil
says...
1:42pm Tue 23 Aug 11
It is now being realised that ANY cuts are illegal - see http://www.publiclib
rariesnews.com/2011/
08/act-does-not-cont
ain-any-provision-fo
r.html
which is written by the solicitor who actually WROTE the 1964 Act! FIGHT!
Jim
211212 says...
9:49pm Mon 22 Aug 11