It's my library volunteer day today!
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
February 28, 2018 3:21am CST
This afternoon I shall be doing a two-hour stint at Newbold Verdon Library.
A team of us got together more than two years ago to save this village library from closure, and that is precisely what we are doing, by running the place with volunteers instead of paid staff.
Many libraries in the UK are faced with this problem, thanks to the austerity budgets that all local authorities are now forced to operate.
My personal view is that taxes should be raised to pay for local services like this, but that is not the Government's attitude. In the meantime, it is down to people like our volunteers to keep places like our library going.
6 people like this
6 responses
@RasmaSandra (97908)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
28 Feb 18
That sounds like a wonderful idea. I just love the feel and smell of libraries. Glad you can keep yours open. I think libraries are such important places that governments should let them have special budgets to pay for staff and operation. I guess in this case the large city libraries get priority over those in small towns or villages.
3 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
28 Feb 18
Thanks for your support. I was not aware that our library had a "smell" - although I have been to plenty that did! It is down to each local authority to decide how it prioritises its spending - as it happens, the city of Leicester has given more support to its libraries than the county of Leicestershire, but that is not necessarily the same pattern that you would find across the country.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (97908)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
28 Feb 18
@indexer I guess not really smell but the scent. I was referring to that special sent of old and new books mingled together. Grab a book and check it out. 
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34925)
• United Kingdom
28 Feb 18
Our library is exactly the same, it opens a half-day four times per week with a team of volunteers and one paid librarian. I agree with you - if people want all the services they should pay more, but many people seem to think that 'government money' just appears by magic and doesn't bear any relation to tax revenue, which is of course just taken by the government for their own purposes (they think). Someone should just stand up and say 'Look, if you want healthcare, social care, sheltered housing, care homes, decent roads, cheap buses, free schooling, subsidised nurseries, police on the streets and all the rest of it, it is going to cost £xxxx per person, so pay up!' but of course no-one will do that because they would never get elected.
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
28 Feb 18
Thanks. We are open for a total of 18 hours a week, with at least one session every day except for Thursdays and Sundays. It is very much a Community Library, with a whole raft of other activities going on there, especially at times when the library is closed. There is a film night once a week, it acts as a rehearsal room for a local ukulele band, there was a comedy show there last week, the local MP has held a "surgery" there, there are adult education classes, and a whole lot more.
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
1 Mar 18
At present the County Council funds the local libraries apart from the staff costs, but this will change in future as more of the burden falls on the libraries. We are a registered charity and we are building up a "fighting fund" to guard against future costs.
@Fleura (34925)
• United Kingdom
28 Feb 18
Oh and of course I should have said well done for stepping up to the mark to save your library. I don't do this but I do volunteer in other capacities. I guess that's a different way to fund things - people give time instead of money - but it isn't so evenly distributed.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Feb 18
Taxes don't need to be raised. Wasteful government spending can be allocated to the libraries.
1 person likes this
