For Somerset Libraries
In 2006/7
• net expenditure per head of population was 33rd out of 34 English
Counties
• expenditure on books was £700,253 or £1.34 per head, 25th of all
English Counties
• income raised by the service was 4th highest of the 34 counties
• items loaned was 9th highest
• visits per head of population were 3rd highest
Subsequent years.... repeated cuts in budgets, and expenditures.
In 2008...
• 6 month period, May - October... Peoples Network internet
computers almost completely collapsed in many Somerset
libraries.
• Somerset is ranked 27th out of 34 in staff expenditure per head of
population of English Counties.
• Taunton Library is 18th busiest in England.
• Further cuts in book budget, expenditure on books down to
£376,700 or £0.72 per head of population.
In 2009...
• More cuts in expenditure, and charges for just about
everything in libraries ratcheted upwards.
• Peoples Network internet service now very much compromised and
degraded. Also chargeable after short period of free use.
• Budget for books down to £176,700 (£0.34 per head of population).
Somewhere along the way, I've gained the impression that, in
fact, the figure is closer to £122,000 or £0.23 per head of population
in Somerset.
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My view of the purpose of a library is that it is for everyone who wishes to use it, not for special-interest community groups trying to impose their own interests on libraries, nor for police to hold their beat surgeries in.
A library is primarily about books, its members, something that takes us out of the everyday, to learn about ourselves and others.
Just for a moment, to adopt the language of business, this looks extraordinarily like a business that is being deliberately run into the ground, with a contempt for its customers, staff, and just about everyone associated with it.
The responsibility lies with the budget setters, or is it with the County, the people of the county itself ? People who know the price of everything, and the value of nothing ? Is Somerset a place to get out of ?
If you love your libraries, its time to ask some hard questions of your representatives and others whether they recognise that they have statutory obligations and responsibilites for our library service.
