LIBRARIES
Booked-in for future
Several local libraries have opened a new chapter in their history with local groups
stepping-up to manage them on a day-to-day basis. Jack Butler reports.
F
ive community groups are
due to start running their local
library on a volunteering basis
from the start of summer. They
will also offer activities and events and
are all recruiting volunteers to help run
the libraries. The first four were:
n
Hanwell Library – Ealing Law Centre
n
Northfields Library – Northfields
Community Library
n
Perivale Library – Perivale
Community Hive
n West Ealing Library – Ealing CVS.
The fifth library to be confirmed as
becoming community managed was
Pitshanger Library. The news came through
as the magazine was going to press. You
can read more at ealingnewsextra.co.uk/
features/pitshanger-library
Ealing Council’s library service is to
continue to own and replenish book
stock and will be giving training to the
community groups as they transition to
community managed status.
The decision to seek community
partners for five of the borough’s 13
libraries was made by the council
last July, following a 12-week public
Volunteers at West Ealing
18
around ealing February/March 2020
consultation involving surveys, events
and drop-in sessions.
Councilor Jasbir Anand, the
council’s cabinet member for business
and community services, thanked
the groups that have taken on the
libraries, and said: “We know how
important libraries are to our local
communities. But, with a 64% cut in
our funding from central government,
meaning we get 36p from every £1
we used to receive in 2010, we had to
consider alternatives.
“Community involvement and
volunteering is crucial to the
groups’ plans and I know they
have some creative ideas for how
to use the libraries in a way that
benefits everyone.”