Story: Lydia Flanagan
Sheffield City Council is looking to make changes to the city’s libraries due to spending cuts. The Messenger visited Burngreave Library to get views on the idea of changing library services.
The Council is consulting on a number of potential changes that will reduce costs, and some of these are already being used in other cities. When the Council decides which changes to make, it will affect all libraries, including Burngreave.
Opening times
It would save the Council money to close libraries in quieter periods and it costs more to open on an evening or weekend. To consider changing opening times, the Council are asking which are the most popular times for using library services.
“We use the library when exams come up for revising and when we’re bored. It’s a quiet, homely, local library close to home – the Central Library is too far! We can come after school on a Monday because it’s open till late so we have time to go home first and still have plenty of time.” Hamda Abdi, Hamda Deria and Diana Mohammed
New fees
One example of changes to fees is internet use, which is currently free in libraries. However, if that was to change, it may be as it is in Manchester, where the internet is free for the first hour for library members and £1.50 on top for the second hour. For non-library members, it would be £1.50 per hour. To consider charging fees, they would first look at demand and affordability of charging for internet services.
“I only have access to the internet at the library. If they started charging for services, it would be difficult.” Ali Bashir
Sharing the building
Community Hubs are buildings that may be shared with another organisation, providing the community with services and resources and rooms to hold events. This would be a good way of sharing the costs. However, sharing space does limit the amount of resources so it could mean a smaller variety of books.
“We visit the library 2 or 3 times a week and use it for the kids to get books, films and CDs. When they were younger, we took them to the baby activities for something to do and it was a chance to meet people new to the area. You can’t predict what services people will need in the future. Nothing’s the same as having a library in walking distance.” Nancy Kerr
For more info, or to fill in a survey, visit http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries.
Paper copies of surveys can be found in your local library. For more info and other survey formats, call 0114 273 4567.
Burngreave Library is closed 1st – 12th October to fit self-issue machines.