Library campaigners' new battle

9:18am Friday 20th October 2006

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GENEROUS volunteers who saved their library from closure by offering to run it themselves say they are being exploited by a council who wants to charge them for book rental too.

Earlier this year Buckinghamshire County Council announ-ced that libraries in Micklefield, West Wycombe, Little Chalfont and Chalfont St Giles would be shut in a money saving exercise.

“It’s monstrously unfair. We are providing a public service because the council can’t fund it and now they want to make a profit from us.”

Mike Bedford, campaign leader

However this week it has agreed to allow community groups to take over the running of the libraries for the benefit of the community.

But it is says the books are a council asset and wants to charge volunteers an annual rent to use the books until they build up a stock of their own. The council would rent the books at a cost of £120 per 100 children's books and £210 per 100 adult fiction books.

Mike Bedford, who led a campaign to save Chalfont St Giles library, said: "It's monstrously unfair. We are providing a public service because the council can't fund it and now they want to make a profit from us."

The council denies it will make any profit from book rental to the community libraries.

Viv Saunders, a spokesman for Bucks County Council, said: "The criteria for the business plan was that community libraries would run at no cost to the county council. This was the first stated in the consultation. We are bending over backwards to help them get started, but we can't let them have the books for nothing as it would cost us to replace them."

Cllr Jean Teesdale, chairman of Wycombe District Council said: "It would have been nice if the council had given the libraries the books for free but we have had lots of people donating books.

"Lack of books is not a problem as far as we are concerned. We can also borrow from each other within our network of community libraries."

A supermobile library service, carrying up to 3,000 books will be up and running by summer 2007.

From December this year a refurbished mobile library will be visiting the communities on a regular basis during the interim period.

Margaret Dewar, cabinet member for community services, said: "This has been a really tough decision and one that has been made only after long and careful consideration of all factors involved. The process has taken longer than anticipated and I realise this has been a stressful time for all involved, but we had to be absolutely sure these businesses - for that is what they must be - have a good chance of success.

"We want to support the community libraries in developing an excellent service that will flourish alongside our own mobile library. Local people will have more choice and greater involvement in their own services."