Nottingham City Council has opened the door to keeping three community libraries open. The Labour-run authority has detailed five possible options to save them after thousands of residents, organisations and a campaign group condemned plans to axe them and save just £79,000.
The council will consider five possible outcomes for the future of three under-threat libraries following a consultation which garnered almost 3,000 responses. The plans to close the libraries in some of the most deprived areas of the city prompted the response of 2,979 individuals, 110 signatures on a letter from professional writers and poets such as Henry Normal, as well as statements from prominent organisations and campaign groups.
It was initially understood the savings from closing Basford, Aspley and the Radford-Lenton libraries would total £233,000, to be phased over three years between 2021 and 2024. It is now known however the phasing has already provided a saving of £154,000 to date, which has been achieved by a "restructure of frontline services", and shutting the three sites would only save the remaining £79,000.
'Serious concerns'
The delays to the opening of the new central library, as well as costs of transport to get from a deprived area to a nearby library, were raised as "serious concerns" by a number of national, local and campaign groups in the consultation. And the implications of the cuts could also mean Nottingham City Council is "less well positioned to apply for additional funding" according to the Arts Council for England.
Council documents have now revealed a number of considerations for the future of the libraries. These include;
- Volunteer-led libraries: A "number of initial discussions have taken place with community partners with potential interest in using library buildings", the council says. These plans have already been condemned by groups, including Save Nottingham Libraries, in that such plans only typically benefit affluent areas and the loss of valued staff would be detrimental.
- Shared use of community buildings: This is where a library could be housed in a council and local community owned and managed building, operating a library offer within a shared space.
- Technology-enabled opening: A popular consideration was that of redesigning libraries so they have a technology-enabled opening system, similar to modern gyms, so the sites do not need to be staffed all the time. Set up costs would be "substantial", the council adds.
- Redistribution of opening hours: The final consideration is the redistribution of opening hours across sites, as to "achieve a net reduction in open hours in line with the revenue saving required".
- Third-party asset transfer: This would mean the building would be transferred through a sale or long-term lease, with defined heads of terms that could include the provision for a publicly-accessible library.
The documents also point positively towards potential new funding streams. The recently announced Cultural Investment Funds, announced by the Arts Council England on May 10 this year, present opportunities for the library service to bid for funding.
Cash can also be secured from the Libraries Improvement Fund from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and Arts Council England. Decisions on bids will be made in February 2023.
And while money could be secured via Levelling Up funding, the city council says it is prioritising the redevelopment of Broad Marsh and Bulwell town centre in round two.
'We are unsatisfied that the closures are necessary or appropriate'
The consultation prompted the input of a number of campaign groups and organisations, both national and local. Many groups have condemned the plans, including the Arts Council England which has and continues to invest millions into the city.
Rebecca Blackman, the director of engagement and audiences and Midlands for the Arts Council England, said: "Given the uncertainty around the opening of the central library development, it is concerning that the residents of these areas won’t have access to library provision and are unlikely to travel to other branches, not least in areas of deprivation where transport costs are prohibitive.
"It is concerning that the proposed closures could severely reduce residents’ access to PCs, WiFi and IT training support, with a knock-on effect in terms of increasing isolation, reducing access to services and cultural experiences, hindering job seeking and economic opportunity for those communities where most support may be needed.
"It is evident that libraries offer excellent value in terms of community support and we would encourage a long-term, systems-thinking approach that balances required savings alongside the value these library branches provide in terms of local provision and connectivity."
She added: "Over the period [from] 2018 to 2022 and across a number of our funding streams, we will have invested over £39 million into the city’s cultural infrastructure, including around £5 million cultural recovery funds.
"Earlier this year, Nottingham City Libraries were awarded £114,758 from the Libraries Improvement Fund via Arts Council for improvements to Hyson Green Library. We are also aware you have made a current application to our capital programme for a number of Nottingham city libraries. The announcements for this are due imminently.
"Whilst we note the significant challenge of working within reduced budgets, there area number of time-sensitive funding and partnership opportunities that may contribute towards balancing the business case of the proposed £233k saving from the three library closures. The implications of the cuts could mean that Nottingham City Council is less well positioned to apply for additional funding, not only from Arts Council but also from other funders."
The Library Campaign, a national charity supporting libraries across the country, says it "remains unsatisfied that the closures are necessary or appropriate." Speaking for the charity Laura Swaffield, chairwoman and trustee, and Geoffrey Dron, trustee, said the council could ultimately fail to meet its statutory duty to provide a "comprehensive and efficient" library service.
They said: "Alleged lack of resources cannot be used to justify the provision of a service which is incapable of meeting the statutory criteria on any objective standards."
And speaking of the considerations Stewart Halforty, of the Save Nottingham Libraries group, told Nottinghamshire Live based on the mapping of residential properties, 37,700 households are within a 20 minute walk of the three libraries, including 8,875 active library users. Closure of all three libraries would mean 13,611 households (or 9% of the city’s residential properties) and 2,325 active users would have no library provision within a 20 minute walk, and thousands of these households sit in the 10% most deprived areas of the country.
He said: "We welcome the result of the consultation which shows overwhelming opposition to the closure of these three libraries. We were pleased with the volume of responses which is a testament to the popularity of these local libraries.
"The contributions from the Arts Council summed up the theme of the campaign so far. Nottingham is a City of Literature and cannot justify the closure of three libraries in some of the poorest wards in our city.
"We hope the City Council take this opportunity to commit to keeping these libraries open in communities they have served for almost a century. The figures show around 7 in 10 respondents in support of keeping these libraries open."
'A perfect storm'
Nottingham City Council's executive will now discuss the findings in August. While councillors will discuss the alternate options, a number of factors will be taken into account in deciding how to proceed.
The council added: "The cost of living crisis has created a perfect storm of increasing public demand and rising costs for local authorities. When the first consultation commenced this wasn’t a key factor but is something that does now need to be factored in in supporting Nottingham residents.
"Library use has changed due to the pandemic. The post pandemic recovery is seeing a return to libraries but still not in line with pre-Covid figures. Excluding the figures for Central and Sherwood Libraries, closed for redevelopment, physical issues of books across the service remains currently down by approximately 13% and visits to libraries 65%, compared to pre-pandemic figures.
"The anticipated opening of Central Library in summer 2023 along with the opening of new Sherwood Library in Winter 2022, strengthens significantly the network and overall library offer, providing wider opportunities and access for library users and understanding the use of these libraries in the context of the network is an important factor in the decision making process."
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