City leaders face library plans quiz (From York Press)
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York leaders face library plans quiz
9:23am Thursday 11th October 2012 in News
CITY leaders are to be pushed for answers over plans for the future of York’s libraries tonight.
The Press revealed last week how City of York Council has suggested a “community benefit society” could be set up to run the city’s library service – which has to save £250,000 next year – on the Labour-controlled authority’s behalf, as it could attract more external funding.
Coun Nigel Ayre, the Liberal Democrat’s cultural services spokesman, will tonight ask Coun Sonja Crisp, cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, whether this idea is the only way forward and seek guarantees that staffing levels will be maintained when any changes to the service are made. He said a public consultation on the issue did not include questions on “future ownership or management changes”, and the exercise should be withdrawn and replaced by “a proper debate”.
“Given the importance of libraries, I would be extremely anxious about any move away from public ownership, but we need to see what Labour are proposing and all the details of the alternative vision for libraries we know they are working on,” he said.
Comments(2)
Haywire
says...
9:25pm Thu 11 Oct 12
bob the builder wrote:Robert, you are so last year!
Should have stuck to the core library ideal of lending books instead of wasting money on making 'media centres' with a small room of lending books tacked on.
I have some sympathy with your view, but just as a matter of interest, and this is not meant as a criticism in any way, when were you last in a York library? More particularly, when did you last borrow a book? Was it fiction or non-fiction?
I was reminded of all those people who turned up to complain about rail branch lines being closed in the Beeching era; they all came by car!
bob the builder says...
7:45pm Thu 11 Oct 12