John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, says a realistic, long-term but ambitious strategy is needed for libraries – which are facing huge cuts in opening hours and other resources city-wide.
Previously: Save our library – AGAIN! | Friends' petition
Cobbett Road, which not only serves as a library but which also acts as a resource enabling many community groups to meet, faces cuts of over 50% to its current 29.5 opening hours, taking them down to just 14.5 hours per week. It's also proposed to cut the fund used to buy books and other items for loan and information in the city by £50,000.
“This is very unwelcome news and I appreciate the strong support for the library,” said John Denham, who was a supporter of an earlier campaign to stop closure at Cobbett Road in 2007.
“While I can understand why, faced with massive cuts in government finance, the council has proposed the restricted hours, I do think we need to get everyone together to look at a long term strategy for our libraries. We need to be realistic about the level of public finance available but ambitious about what we could achieve.”
'Decimation'
Conservative ward councillor Peter Baillee (pictured below right) criticised the Labour-led council for intending to “decimate Cobbett Road Library", and called for everyone in Bitterne Park to back the campaign to save the community asset:
“Of course all three local councillors oppose the cuts to Cobbett Road Library,” he told bitternepark.info.
“We have supported it over many years. Whilst we were in power for five years, we kept the funding and improved the building inside and out. We encouraged the Friends' Group and other users to make the library as difficult to close as possible by some future administration. Labour promised no cuts to libraries, and now (just like the Lib-Dems) they intend to decimate Cobbett Road Library at their first opportunity. The effect will be closure of the library within a couple of years. We are already helping with a campaign to oppose these cuts - the recent meeting being the first step. The cuts make no sense anyway when one considers the huge health benefit that the library brings for very little cost. Everyone in Bitterne Park should get behind the campaign to save this community library and community asset.”
February 2007: John Denham campaigning to save Cobbett Road Llibrary from closure
Links
Friends' petition
Friends of Cobbett Road Library
Previously: Save our library – AGAIN! - bitternepark.info