Burngreave Library at risk

Story & photo: Douglas Johnson

The Council is about to start a 12-week consultation, now it has announced its proposal to close some libraries. 11 community Libraries are to be saved but the rest will lose their staff and most will close. Burngreave Library has not made it on to the list of 11. Councillor Mazher Iqbal explained,

“The reason it was not in the priority list was due to the distance to the Central Library and the number of registered users potentially affected.”

Libraries in the top 11 – which include Firth Park – will be upgraded. For five of the remaining libraries, the Council is offering to pay the running costs (but not staff). Burngreave is a priority to be one of these five, but it depends on a voluntary organisation coming forward to run it.

Three organisations previously showed interest in running Burngreave Library: Regional Language Network and Creative Pathways (both social enterprises) and SOAR (Southey and Owlerton Area Regeneration). Four organisations expressed interest in taking over all the city’s libraries. However, the Council has now confirmed organisations will get no funding and it is hard to see how other groups can provide the necessary resources to run and staff a library.

A community group would not even get the use of the library building. As reported in the August Messenger, the Council intends to move Burngreave Library to a smaller space in Sorby House. Last issue we asked why the plans showed no serving desk or staff office: now we know.

The Council has partly based its decision on the number of registered users, which is an odd way to measure usage when anyone can use any library. Many people may not remember if they registered at Burngreave Library or the Central one or at a previous address. However, one interesting fact in the Council’s statistics is that, when looking at adult library users who choose to register at their local library instead of elsewhere, only 4 libraries beat Burngreave. That suggests Burngreave’s library users are confident in their local service and prefer not to travel into town.

Under-18s are far more likely to register locally, which is noticeable in Burngreave where the library is very popular for computer access, for homework and leisure.

The plans are to save £1.6 million in total over two years, a fairly modest saving from the current annual library budget of £6.4 million per year.

A consultation on the plans will run from October to January but no closures are planned before April 2014.

What library users think

“They are not thinking about the children, whether it’s a children’s centre or a library. My children are here now doing their homework. I also use the computers at the library as I haven’t got internet at home. A couple of months ago they said they were going to move to Sorby House, now they say they’re going to close it. They don’t know what they are talking about.”

Salima

“I come once a week. If this closed I would have to go to the city centre but for elderly people it would be more difficult for them and they would stay at home.”

Mahmood Mohammed

“I use it for books and the internet. This library is close to my home and is very important to me.”

Abdisamed Adan

“I use the library twice a week for books, newspapers, internet. If this closed it is too far to the city centre. I would stop reading! We need the libraries open.”

Idres Elamin

“I come every week and more during the holidays. I can use the library at times when the school is closed. If the library closed there would be queues waiting to use computers at other libraries.”

Mr Hussain (age 14 – Fir Vale School)

“I use the library for homework and use the internet. I’m able to get here on my own, as I live nearby, but wouldn’t be allowed to go to Firth Park on my own.”

Khadija, age 10

“The library has lots of books and is near my home. I wouldn’t be allowed to go to Firth Park on my own. The internet is too slow to use at home.”

Rahma, age 10

“We are very concerned about the possible closure of Burngreave Library. We have already suffered cuts that particularly affect children. It’s just another nail in the coffin.”

Margaret Williams, Secretary of Burngreave TARA