“WE WELCOME ANY IDEAS FROM INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN TAKING ON THE RUNNING OF ONE OF OUR BRANCH LIBRARIES” – Croydon council questionnaire
What the “Ambitious for the Library Service in Croydon” questionnaire says:
Croydon council are experiencing 56 per cent of funding cuts over eight years but we want to minimise the impact on libraries by continuing to support our library network to deliver the services people want in a way they want to use them.
Libraries are probably best known as places to facilitate literacy and learning, yet they also play a valuable role in the community, providing a neutral and safe place to share services and mix with others who live in the wider community.
We also know that our residents are ambitious to see the best use made of our libraries and that you understand that in these changing times having services just stay the same is no longer an option.
With our government funding declining and more residents’ needs to serve, we must revisit how we run our business: we want you to help us reshape our library provision for the future.
7 We want to ensure that more people are involved in developing and delivering their library. We want to encourage groups of enthusiastic and supported volunteers to work with us to find better ways of providing services and to allow our library services to benefit from new skills and become an even bigger part of the community.
We want to provide a library service that delivers a 21st century service for all our residents.
What our library service does at the moment;
• Spends £4.6 million on 14 fully staffed and support library locations.
• Has around 20pc of residents as active users of the library services – nearly half are children.
• Gets nearly two million visits a year with almost half at the Central library in the Clocktower.
• Has over 400,000 books which are borrowed nearly a million times
• Provides free online resources; including books, magazine, research portals and service information and offers free Wi-Fi which is accessed nearly 50,000 times a year.
What this costs 2014/15 £3,481,284.62
Timetable for this engagement and our Libraries for the Future strategy: Engagement through survey and focus groups – 22nd March 2016 – 2nd May 2016; Analysis and completion of engagement report – May – June 2016; Paper to Cabinet for future plans – July 2016; Ambitious for Libraries plan launched – late summer 2016 9
Please complete our survey online at http://www. ambitiousforlibraries 1. Have you ever used a Croydon library? yes / no If no please tell us why:
2. Thinking about libraries in the future, what would you like to see as part of your library service? Please circle your answers Learning and study spaces for children and adults Somewhere to read to borrow books Free Wi-Fi A place to use computers and printers Online books and magazines A place to get training and learn new skills A place to access to digital learning courses and training A community space for meetings A place to meet and talk to people More community support services such as access to voluntary organisations help groups and advice services A place to shop and / or eat A place that is open every day and in the evening To be able to access other Council services either face to face or online A place where I contribute to the running of the service A place to get help with finding a job
3. Are there any other services you would want libraries to provide? 4. To you – what are the most important things in our current library offer – please circle all those important to you and please tell us any we have missed. library staff access to books quiet space group activities places for children’s activities access to Wi-Fi safe space a place to study meeting people doing crafts and activities getting job search help access to computer and printer getting information getting advice getting homework help.
5. We believe that our libraries are important community hubs and that they should be relevant, accessible and part of your neighbourhood. Would you be willing to be involved in the running of your local library? This could be as a day to day volunteer, a homework helper, help in the running of your neighbourhood library or even as a group taking over the delivery of the entire local branch. Yes / No Please provide details of how you would be prepared to volunteer i.e. one day a week staffing the library.
We also welcome any ideas from individuals or groups who may be interested in taking on the running of one of our branch libraries. Please provide details here: Please provide details of how you would be prepared to volunteer or deliver your local library. If you are interested in volunteering or delivering a library, please leave us your contact details here: detailed information is provided I (sic) the various links through , please go to http://www. ambitiousforlibraries
A Croydon council press release said: “To take part in the engagement, find out more at: https://getinvolved.croydon.
“Anyone needing help completing the survey should contact staff at their local library.”