Today is D-Day as far as the future of Croydon’s libraries is concerned, with a public meeting at the Town Hall from 6.30pm.
It represents the latest example of how a “consultation” works in dystopian Croydon in 2011.
Step 1: Spend a couple of months getting the views of thousands of local residents after asking them about the closure of six local branch libraries.
Step 2: During the “consultation” process, repeatedly lie to the public about the council’s statutory duty for the provision of a library service.
Step 3: After the deadline on the consultation, keep the outcome of the public response secret while you try to cobble together another policy.
Step 4: Issue a report, but somehow fail to publish it widely, and come up with an entirely different policy – the privatisation of all 13 libraries – on which no one has ever been consulted.
For Inside Croydon‘s background coverage on the libraries saga, click here.
To read the Sanderstead Library Campaign’s assessment, click here
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