Category Archives: Libraries

Parents facing ‘hollowed-out’ half-term of council activities

Posted on February 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

When Jason “It’s going to get worse before it gets better” Perry referred to the “hollowed-out council” that he took charge of last May, the Tory Mayor must have had in mind the borough’s library service, which has been run … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Children's Services, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Schools, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry LIED to council over Brick by Brick’s ‘stair-less’ house

Posted on January 21, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Opposition councillors demand an immediate apology and question whether the borough’s credulous Tory Mayor can be trusted. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Officials from Croydon Council have been forced to admit that the Conservative Mayor, Jason Perry, lied … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Council offers warm spaces – at libraries closed for Christmas

Posted on December 19, 2022 by insidecroydon

Cold-hearted Tory Mayor Jason Perry has, somewhat belatedly, got round to publicising a list of warm banks around the borough. But typically of the dysfunctional council, the listing of 34 venues is offered on its website, which is not accessible … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Charity, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon Nightwatch, GLL - Better, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Now is the time to make our libraries more accessible, not less

Posted on December 16, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The 10-day closure over the Christmas holiday of the borough’s public libraries may see the council failing in its legal duties, suggests IAN KIERANS With the decision to close the borough’s 13 public libraries for a 10-day period … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Libraries | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Library closures are on Mayor’s lists of cuts for New Year

Posted on December 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

All Croydon’s public libraries will close next week for a 10-day break in service – from Christmas Eve, Saturday December 24 until Monday January 2. But there’s growing concerns among Katharine Street sources that some of the borough’s 13 public … Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Property, Purley, Purley Pool, Sanderstead, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fuel crisis takes grip of borough leisure centres’ opening times

Posted on December 10, 2022 by insidecroydon

Times are tough. Now Croydon’s leisure centres and swimming pools – owned by the cash-strapped council and operated for them by Greenwich Leisure – are reducing their opening hours because they can’t afford the steepling costs of heating the buildings, … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries, New Addington, Purley, Purley Pool, South Norwood, Swimming, Thornton Heath, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council’s rubbish collection calendars only available online

Posted on December 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

The annual bin collection calendar has been released, but this year the cash-strapped council is only making the charts available on its website, rather than delivering the helpful at-a-glance guide to every household. This is nothing to do with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Purley Library and CALAT Festive Fair, Purley, Dec 10

Posted on December 2, 2022 by insidecroydon
Posted in Activities, CALAT, Education, Libraries, Purley | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Funding outlook for all London’s boroughs is ‘beyond bleak’

Posted on November 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Croydon is not the only cash-strapped council in the capital, as the body which represents all 32 boroughs and the City of London has predicted that there could be a £1.1billion black hole in Town Hall budgets over the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, CVA, Georgia Gould, Libraries, London Councils, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

McDonald’s hands out thousands of books on Croydon tour

Posted on September 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

McDonald’s is set to donate thousands of books to children in Croydon as part of its national literacy campaign helping disadvantaged children across the country. Croydon at the end of August was the first stop in a nationwide tour during … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Education, Libraries | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Summer art camp, Upper Norwood Library, from Aug 15

Posted on July 21, 2022 by insidecroydon
Posted in Activities, Art, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Libraries, Upper Norwood Library Trust | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mayor issues pledge to save ‘brutalist’ South Norwood Library

Posted on July 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

GENE BRODIE, libraries correspondent, on a council announcing that it has closed a stable door after its occupant has cantered off into the distance Jason Perry, Croydon’s £81,000 per year part-time Mayor, has declared that the 1960s-built South Norwood Library … Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Property, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brick by Brick’s South Norwood library on the market for retail

Posted on June 23, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Fancy renting a public building? One less-than-careful owner. Going cheap-ish. Only a slight pong from leaking sewage and a risk of falling bricks… EXCLUSIVE by BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent Croydon Council has placed its new-ish, Brick by … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Libraries, Paul Scott, Property, South Norwood, Stiles Harold Williams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Croydon v Croydon: Brick by Brick building declared a ‘danger’

Posted on May 17, 2022 by insidecroydon

The council’s failed development company has been criticised for its late-running, incomplete and vastly over-budget projects. Now one of its most prestigious schemes has been officially ruled to be a danger to the public. EXCLUSIVE by BARRATT HOLMES One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Libraries, Norwood Junction, Planning, Property, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Two-days-a-week libraries latest step in ‘lingering demise’

Posted on March 21, 2022 by insidecroydon

Staff and residents’ associations warn that reduced opening hours to be introduced from April 4 are just ‘library closures by stealth’ The borough’s public libraries will go on to a new, reduced hours timetable next month, the last part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Libraries, Old Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon Residents' Association, Oliver Lewis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council’s misleading Open+ and shut case for public libraries

Posted on January 13, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The bankrupt council is spending £1.6m on an untried system that will allow it to reduce staffing hours at our libraries, a decision passed without debate at a Town Hall meeting. Our libraries correspondent, GENE BRODIE, investigates … Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Heather Cheesbrough, Libraries, Manju Shahul Hameed, New Addington, Norbury, Old Coulsdon, Planning, Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon and Addington Village, Shirley North, South Norwood, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Short-staffed libraries forced to close their doors until 2022

Posted on December 23, 2021 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s libraries, already operating on much-reduced opening hours, will close their doors tonight and not re-open until Monday, January 3, at the earliest. The closures leave students working towards exams in the New Year and other residents denied access to … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Libraries | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Croydon In Crisis: Council can no longer cope with basic tasks

Posted on November 11, 2021 by insidecroydon

It was on November 11, 2020, that Croydon issued a Section114 Notice, effectively admitting they were bankrupt. Twelve months on, and now the council struggles to fulfil even the most basic of administrative services. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Resident endures … Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Tea and Tech: Accessing NHS, Upper Norwood Library, Oct 22

Posted on October 21, 2021 by insidecroydon
Posted in Activities, Libraries, Upper Norwood Library Trust | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Further £38.4m to be sliced from next year’s council budget

Posted on October 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall leadership hoped to keep the latest round of cuts secret until after next week’s referendum, as the consequences of the borough’s bankruptcy start to hit home. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES £12m of adult social care … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Adult Social Care, Callton Young, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Leisure services, Libraries, Purley Pool, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Croydon’s Black History Month offers much to be proud about

Posted on October 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Black History Month begins tonight under the tagline “Proud2be”. Organised by the Croydon BME Forum, Black History Month includes an intergenerational fashion show, poetry readings, live music, theatre, a networking brunch and thought-provoking discussions.

Posted in Andrew Brown, Black History Month, Community associations, Croydon BME Forum, Croydon Council, Education, History, Libraries | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

South Norwood’s ‘brutalist’ library in Top 10 attractions

Posted on August 27, 2021 by insidecroydon

Yet more sphincter-clenching embarrassment for the Blairites who control Croydon’s Labour Party, as the public library which their local council wants to flog off, for possible demolition and redevelopment, is to feature in September’s Open House London celebration of all … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Libraries, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Croydon Labour to return to the Three-Day Week for libraries

Posted on August 19, 2021 by insidecroydon

Oliver “Shit Show” Lewis, the councillor with responsibility for the borough’s culture, has had a second set of money-saving proposals for Croydon libraries mostly rejected, and so will preside over the council’s statutory service now being provided on just three … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Libraries, Oliver Lewis, Sanderstead, Selsdon & Ballards, Shirley North, South Norwood, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Four more public libraries set to reopen after covid lockdown

Posted on July 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

At least a month later than most local authorities managed, Croydon is to begin “a phased reopening for all library buildings”, after the easing of covid-19 precautions. Four of the borough’s 13 public libraries – at Broad Green, Sanderstead, Shirley … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Broad Green, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Upper Norwood Library Trust | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Children’s summer challenge is to search for their wild heroes

Posted on July 25, 2021 by insidecroydon

Croydon libraries’ 2021 summer reading challenge has a “Wild World Heroes” theme, focusing on making a difference to the environment. The challenge asks children aged between four and 11 to visit their local library (in the few hours when it … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Libraries | Tagged , | Leave a comment