Librarians go on strike on Monday June 21. Unison says the action
is “in response to library closures and the replacement of trained staff
by volunteers”. A rally in support of the action takes place at 12.30pm
in front of the Central Library.Libraries across the City are expected to be closed on Monday, with picket lines in place at many from 8.30am, including at Bitterne, Portswood and Central branches.
From June 22, Unison says its members will boycott all work connected with the induction of new volunteers, and won’t assist in their recruitment, training, induction or supervision.
"Running libraries on the cheap"
“Conservative
Councillors are trying to run libraries on the cheap,”
said Unison Branch Secretary Mike Tucker. “Librarians wish to provide a
first class service in all parts of the City. Rather than spending
thousands of pounds employing new public relations staff to defend their
budget cuts the Conservative Councillors should fund services for all
the people of the City.“Volunteers should be used to supplement public services, not to replace them. Unison librarians are making a stand in defence of a comprehensive, professional library service for the people of Southampton.”
Cabinet member for leisure Councillor John Hannides said that the Council won’t implement any staffing strategies that would be in breach of its “statutory obligations”.
"Counterproductive" action
“We have not announced the
closure of any libraries with the exception
of those that are part of a regeneration scheme, and we have not
announced any redundancies as a result of our volunteering scheme,” he
said. 
Cllr Hannides
“I very much regret the planned industrial action, I do not believe it is justified and will be counterproductive. We appreciate the work our professional librarians do and our vision for the future of libraries puts them very much at the forefront.”
Cllr Hannides said that libraries will be the target of national as well as local financial pressures, and that he believes the right balance of trained professionals and volunteers can “develop libraries as a genuine community facility with much greater involvement by local residents”.
He added that the recent introduction of RFID [Radio-frequency identification] represents the largest investment for 20 years. “It means that by utilising new technology we can now modernise all aspects of our service, including the traditional staffing arrangements,” he said.
Shhhhhh
Local children’s author, Ali Sparkes, said:
“Librarians do so much more
than stamp your book and go 'Shhh!'. They are responsible for a host of
exciting and creative events which inspire young people (and often
their parents) to read and broaden their minds - and without these
properly trained, passionate, qualified people our county and its future
generations will be so much poorer.“
“The systematic undermining of the librarian as a valued professional is incredibly short-sighted. If we don't hang on to our actual libraries, with our actual librarians we will find ourselves, a few years down the line, with nothing more than e-stories and a BorrowBook.com internet chat room - in which everyone cmnicates lk ths *LOL*.
“The technology now at our fingertips should enhance and support the learning and exploration of our language and culture through books - not be used as a cheap substitute. When was the last time a laptop looked into your eyes and said... 'Do you know... I have the VERY book for you!' and led you across to something which would amaze and engage you for hours... without charging you anything?”
Links
Love your Southampton Libraries on Facebook
Volunteers to replace paid staff - bitternepark.info
Librarians' ballot for strike action- Daily Echo
Blog discussion on pros and cons of investing on RFID
Portswood library