Under threat, again: schoolchildren, pensioners and other Old Coulsdon residents find themselves protesting against the closure threat in Old Coulsdon once again this morning
There was a huge turn out on World Book Day at Bradmore Green Library in Old Coulsdon this morning to protest against the Tory Mayor’s proposals to close the library.
Residents and children are really upset at the threat to what the council’s own report describes as a “well-used library”.
Bradmore Green’s library has, since closure for lockdown in 2020, only been operating for two days each week. But local schoolchildren make sure that they make good use of the library: each week two classes from the nearby primary school enjoy a two-hour visit to the library as part of their lessons.
“We found out that Brit-winner Raye use to attend Coulsdon CofE Primary,” one parent told Inside Croydon. “Perhaps her visits to Bradmore Green Library helped her start her song-writing career.”
Another at this morning’s protest said: “Old Coulsdon is isolated, being at the top of a long steep hill and this library is a lifeline for hundreds of elderly and infirm residents.”
Old Coulsdon residents have been campaigning against the closure of their public library for at least the past 12 years, as it has been under constant threat. Today’s protest came after a council budget meeting at Croydon Town Hall last night that agreed to raise their Council Tax to record levels.
“We don’t get much for our Council Tax,” said one protestor. “And now they want to take away even that… Pay more, get less, all the time.”
The protestors had noticed that the Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, who is paid £82,000 per year, ignored calls at the Town Hall meeting for a reduction in the amount paid to his councillor colleagues. “One gets the sense that despite the overwhelming outcry from the residents of Old Coulsdon, the council will proceed with this controversial closure unless someone comes up with £83,000-plus per annum needed to run it.”
Read more: ‘The council is dismantling our borough, service by service’
Read more: Sanderstead among four public libraries under threat of closure
Read more: Libraries are our long-term investment. Don’t squander it
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Well done everybody. We need to tell the council and it’s affiliates this library is not for sale. It’s too precious a resource. They’ll have to find their money elsewhere.