A free public library service is such an important cornerstone of a decent society that it's no wonder this Government are happy to watch it smashed up.
For some reason, libraries are uniquely vulnerable to the perception that the skilled work of their professional staff could easily be replicated on a voluntary basis by enthusiastic amateurs. This perception is founded, more than anything else, on the ignorance of libraries on the part of politicians and senior managers.
The Government's approach to the statutory duty on local authorities to provide a public library service also gives Council's virtually free rein to devastate the service, with library closures in many areas as local services pay the price of bailing out the banks.
All of which makes today's lobby of Parliament important - full information and all the right links are over on the False Economy Blog (http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/speak-up-for-libraries-lobby-parliament-on-tuesday).
If, like me, you can't make it to Westminster today, you can still download a model letter to your MP (http://www.unison.org.uk/file/SpeakUp4LibsMP.doc) and email it to them (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/).
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment