Three years ago, RICHARD PACITTI, pictured left, explained how to save the borough’s libraries.
With half of Croydon’s public libraries once again under threat of closure or being down-graded, he’s back to make the case for a properly funded, essential service
In March 2021, when our libraries were last under threat of closure, I wrote a piece for Inside Croydon describing what a terrible, short-sighted idea closing libraries was.
Under threat: Sanderstead’s public library has endured years of uncertainty and underfunding
All the points I made in that article are still valid, so I won’t make them again here.
Eventually, the council kept all the libraries open, albeit with reduced opening hours. They did, however, remove more than £500,000 from the libraries budget. It means that since 2019, our libraries service has had it budget reduced by more than £800,000 and opening hours have been reduced.
Now, they’re at it again and Sanderstead and three other Croydon libraries are earmarked for closure as part of proposed changes. I suspect I’m not the only one who sees the cruel irony of London’s Borough of Culture proposing such an act of cultural vandalism.
The public consultation runs until April 19 and I would encourage everyone to take part. Many, though, are concerned that the consultation is not genuine. A single model involving closure has been put forward and the online consultation allows only very limited and short answers, with little opportunity for people to make their own suggestions.
At the public meetings I attended, council representatives did not have key information to answer questions. They argued that “too much money is tied up in building costs”, but when asked, “How much are the non-staff costs at Sanderstead Library?”, they did not know. Perhaps, they felt that if they admitted that the non-staff costs were only £51,000 a year, those present would have been very unimpressed with this argument.
The library service is being considered in a silo, separate from other council services which could share the library building and contribute to its running. Why has this option not been put forward for consideration? People attending the public meetings have put forward very strong reasons to retain the library, but have become distrustful of local politicians and council officials and feel the real agenda is to sell off public assets as part of a hopeless effort to pay off the council’s £1.6billion debt.
Under threat: Shirley Library was picked out for the axe by consultants
I believe that with some joined-up thinking (and a little cash) Croydon could keep all its libraries open and develop services to better meet the needs of local communities. Crucially, the enhanced libraries would also enable the council to better meet some of their other strategic aims.
I am chair of the Friends of Sanderstead Library and this is the library that I know most about. I’m pretty sure that those more involved with Shirley, Broad Green and Bradmore Green, the others under threat of closure, could give strong arguments for the importance of their library, too.
The needs and opportunities in Sanderstead are unique to that area and the beauty of a system of local libraries is that each library can tailor its offer to its local community. Fewer, more centralised libraries, would not be able to do this.
Croydon spends less per head on its libraries than any other London borough
According to their own figures, the council will only save £51,000 a year in non-staff costs if they close Sanderstead Library. Similar figures are true for the other three libraries earmarked for closure. To lose such a vital public service and rob future generations for such a meagre amount of savings makes no sense whatsoever.
The council is arguing that library closures are necessary because the current arrangements “are not working” and because some libraries aren’t well used. Actually, Sanderstead Library is very well used and the usage numbers are increasing as people get used to the services available post-covid.
Footfall at the library has been increasing steadily and between April and December last year, 26,451 books were issued from Sanderstead Library, putting it third out of the 13 libraries in Croydon. Attendance at specific events has also increased by 83%. Given that the library isn’t open on a Saturday (the most popular day for libraries), this is an excellent use of a public resource.
When the library was used as a venue for administering vital covid and flu vaccinations, there was very good uptake. This shows that with a bit of joined-up, creative thinking the library could be developed to meet a range of community needs. Perhaps the council should take a wider view of what library buildings can be used for.
Under threat: Broad Green is the only library threatened with closure in the north of the borough
The real reason the library service isn’t working well in Croydon is because it has been starved of funding and the buildings neglected. Most libraries are only open two or three days a week, and most are not open on Saturdays or early evenings – the times more convenient to most working people or children home from school.
Croydon has cut its library budget by nearly one-quarter since 2019 and has failed to maintain and develop library buildings. It spends less per head on its library service than any other London borough and ranks 22nd out of 33 London boroughs in terms of libraries per head. Croydon ranks lower for spend and libraries per head when compared with many metropolitan areas of similar size outside of London. Not much to brag about for a beacon of culture in London.
Even so, 10% of the population (approximately 40,000 people) are regular, loyal users. Given how little they spend on libraries this represents excellent value for money for the Council.
The usage figures for libraries when schools aren’t open, for example during the school holidays, are very high and increasing, indicating that if libraries are open when people want to use them, usage increases.
The council argues that the library budget is fixed and cannot be increased. I do not agree with this. It is the council that sets the budget. They can choose to restore the libraries budget and take the opportunity to bring more services closer to the public in accordance with many of their strategic aims. Preventative services, support to carers, public health interventions, education, music and community-run enterprises could all be delivered from improved library buildings.
Sanderstead Library
Sanderstead is a well-used, well-loved local facility. A survey by the residents’ association, completed by more than 300 people, showed that 99% of those who responded were concerned about the possible closure of the library.
They were worried not just about the loss of the library, but also the loss of a public building with many potential uses, the loss of public green space and the loss of a piece of architectural heritage.
People came up with many ideas of how the use of the library could be expanded to meet a broader range of community needs. These views were included in an Outline Business Case for the library that the residents’ association submitted to the council in March 2023. It was submitted again in May and December 2023. Until the recent consultation, there was no response from the council to this document.
Model library: Wenvoe in Wales provides an example of what can be achieved
Sanderstead has the highest percentage of over-50s, of over-60s and over-70s in the borough. Many are less mobile than residents in the rest of the borough. They have protected characteristics in terms of equalities legislation. They are more likely to be lonely, socially isolated (predictors of poor mental health) and physically frail. They would not easily be able to travel to other libraries.
A physical library is much more appropriate than the digital services the council is suggesting. There is a growing number of young families in the area who are significant users of the library. Pregnancy and maternity is another protected characteristic which seems not to have been considered in relation to Sanderstead Library.
The library does need to have accessible toilet facilities and be more user-friendly to families with small children and those with disabilities. Elsewhere (a good example is Wenvoe Library in Wales) modular buildings have been used to provide extra, more accessible spaces for libraries, allowing them to function as Community Hubs. These buildings can be installed in a matter of weeks and are very good value for money. The library site at Sanderstead has ample room for such a building (outline drawings were included in the document that the residents’ association submitted to the Council).
Community-run buildings
The council says if library services are removed from the building, they want the community to take it over and run it. If this does not happen, they will sell the building to the highest bidder. Sanderstead residents have shown in their 2023 poll that they are interested in being involved as partners in a community hub and library, but it is entirely unrealistic to suggest that a community group can take over and run the building.
Community groups can only run services in libraries if the libraries are retained and funded by the council.
Under threat, again: Old Coulsdon is rallying around to save Bradmore Green Library
Another fiction that the council promotes is that community and voluntary groups have easy access to funds that can be used to run libraries and community hubs. Most grant-making trusts will not fund something that they think is a statutory duty (such as libraries) or that allows a public body to stop funding a public service (such as libraries).
In any case, as council funding has reduced, competition for grant funding is much greater and grant funding is much harder to get. I doubt whether any Croydon community or voluntary groups have spare, unallocated funds that could be used to take on the building.
Moreover, the only models of community libraries that we have been shown that work are where there is considerable statutory funding.
If the council stops funding the library, they know full well it will close and be sold.
Lack of joined-up thinking
Closure of the library (the only publicly owned building in the area) would mean that the building would be lost forever for everyone in Sanderstead. Many of the council’s other aims (more local services, preventative services, support to carers, public health interventions etc) would be thwarted without a local space from which to deliver those services.
Many of the priorities in Croydon’s Health and Wellbeing Draft Strategy could be delivered in an enhanced library building in Sanderstead: good mental health and well-being for all; healthy safe and well-connected neighbourhoods and communities; supporting our children, young people and families; supporting our older population to live healthy, independent and fulfilling lives. This is also true of other council strategies.
The council says that it plans to develop libraries in South Norwood and New Addington as Community Hubs even though library usage there is much less than in Sanderstead. I accept that these areas have higher levels of deprivation than Sanderstead, but the population in Sanderstead has challenges, too, and its residents (and no doubt the residents of Shirley, Bradmore Green and Broad Green, too) are entitled to a local service. The same work that is being put in by the council to develop the hubs in South Norwood and New Addington should be put into Sanderstead Library.
The Solution
Sanderstead residents deserve fair and equal access to local public services, including a library. Croydon’s library budget should be restored to at least 2019 levels. This would allow for five- or six-day-a-week opening, including Saturdays and evenings.
I understand that Croydon has considerable financial challenges. But these difficulties were caused by politicians and bureaucrats. Local taxpayers should not suffer the loss of crucial public services as a result of the gross mismanagement of public finances.
What Can I Do to Help Save Our Libraries?
- Take part in the council consultation https://www.getinvolved.croydon.gov.uk/libraries-services-consultation
- As well as completing the online questionnaire, you can send your expanded ideas to: librariesconsultation@croydon.gov.uk.
This message needs to be spread as far as possible.
Get involved with local groups, get schools and local businesses involved. Write to your ward councillors, your MP, and even the Mayor.
- Richard Pacitti is the chair of the Friends of Sanderstead Library, which has a dedicated page for its activities on the website of the Sanderstead Residents’ Association
Read more: Libraries are our long-term investment. Don’t squander it
Read more: ‘Appalling’ GLL is facing strike by library workers in Bromley
Read more: Sanderstead among four public libraries under threat of closure
Read more: ‘The council is dismantling our borough, service by service’
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Thank you for this excellent article
It has been quite clear from the outset that the real plan is to close libraries so that the buildings can be sold off. All of the figures about library usage are a distraction and suggestions about other people taking over the buildings are unrealistic. The Mayor has no plans to re-open libraries in future years so this is a long-term change as a cash grab to meet a short term lack of funds.
As I said at the Shirley Library meeting, the libraries were set up by previous generations as a service to us – to close them down is an insult to their memory and a theft from future generations. We must do all we can to save these vital assets for our communities.
Closing libararies will only save £51k per year? Croydon Council could save four times that amount by getting rid of just one of their £200k “directors”, who are just bleeding the borough dry before leaving on the local government gravy train to their next victim borough !
They could save at least £51k a year if that part-time tub of lard only got paid for the few hours he puts in (not counting photo shoots in the park with his bestie)
As part of the budget discussions, Green Party Councillors proposed a reduction in senior salaries and a 50% cut to the Special Responsibilities Allowances that some Councillors get paid. The money saved from these excessive payments could be used to help fund frontline services, like our libraries.
Conservatives voted against it and Labour just abstained
Did you cost your proposals Peter? Or was your gesture just virtue signalling? Given the Green’s disasterous tenure in Brighton where the finances were monumentally ballsed up, I very much dounbt it.
A simple addition to the book fund would be to accept book donations
Indeed an excellent article. The same goes for Bradmore Green Library which is exceptionally well used and apparently the cheapest to run. Being next to the school it is also fantastic for children.
After the libraries being sold off along with other community-oriented public assets, there will at some point there will be nothing left to sell off. What’s going to happen then? I dread to think, but based on the current trend it doesn’t seem many years away.
The councils of whatever colour in Croydon have been absolutely shocking. The Tory legacy of cutting vital funding around 2010 was frankly idiotic and so ridiculously short-sighted but it doesn’t mean that by default we have to be where we are now.
For what it’s worth we should make our point clear and make sure we fill in the consultation documents against the closure of these libraries. One thing is for sure – if you’re not in the fight you can’t win it.
Leave our library alone Shirley please