Category Archives: Libraries

Winnie The Pooh Story Time, Norbury Library, Sat May 30

C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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Perry’s libraries legacy of unsigned leases and works not done

Pay more, get less. Under Jason Perry, the council has become increasingly reliant on volunteers to deliver services paid for by our Council Tax – from litter-picking in Croydon parks, to voluntary groups running the four public libraries closed by … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Stranack, Asian Resource Centre of Croydon, Broad Green, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Property, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents Association, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fir gone conclusions as our council slowly gets back to work

The council’s Christmas tree collection service begins on Monday. The council and rubbish contractors Veolia are just not saying when, or where Council collections of Christmas trees are due to begin on Monday, and will continue for a fortnight, until … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Leisure services, Libraries, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Borough’s archives get £10,000 grant to ask obvious questions

It’s been a tough few years under Tory austerity for Croydon’s once cherished libraries and museum, and their hard-working staff. So the news that the borough’s archives service has received a £10,000 grant to help research a special project has … Continue reading

Posted in Bourne Society, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Education, History, Libraries, Museum of Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

New managers for public library need crowdfunding to operate

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a year’s delay, only now are ‘plans’ slowly emerging for the future of four public libraries, with no leases yet agreed on at least two sites. GENE BRODIE, education correspondent, reports  It’s been a whole year … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Libraries, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington South, Old Coulsdon, Property, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents Association, Shirley North, Shirley South, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Booked! Mayor Perry deceives over destruction of library stock

More crass mismanagement at the council allowed squatters to occupy the vacated Broad Green Library. But it was council contractors who caused the most startling damage. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter Jason Perry, the failed Mayor of Croydon, yesterday … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

After the riots, survey finds we are not an ‘island of strangers’

Have we really lost our sense of community? Or are we all just people separated by our mobile devices? Our columnist ANDREW FISHER, right, looks at some interesting data from a piece of academic research PLUS: Jeremy Corbyn stands up … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Community associations, Croydon East, Croydon South, Croydon West, Libraries, Streatham and Croydon North | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Podcast: Our Croydon Insider panel looks at council’s crisis

What will the appointment by government of Commissioners to run Croydon Council mean to you as a resident? After five years of ever-increasing bail-outs for Croydon’s cash-stapped council, what alternative actions were there? And is Mayor Jason Perry right to … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, Katherine Kerswell, Ken Towl, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Under The Flyover | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry closes down entire floor of flagship Central Library

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s library closures did not stop with the four public libraries which shut last year, as the Tory Mayor pushes through more service cuts without debate or consultation Mayor Jason Perry, after shutting down the borough’s … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

New shared reading group to begin at New Addington Library

The Reader, a national charity, is starting a shared reading group in Croydon next week. Run by a local volunteer, the group will meet every Tuesday at 2pm, starting April 22, at New Addington Library. The group is open to … Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Education, Libraries, New Addington South | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mayor Perry lies to BBC over his closures of Croydon libraries

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Decision to close four libraries was based on dodgy data that failed to measure use of public amenities for a range of activities, from private study for school pupils to yoga classes for the elderly. By WALTER … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Ashburton and Coulsdon public libraries begin to open up

Having closed four public libraries last year – at Bradmore Green, Sanderstead, Shirley and Broad Green – Croydon’s Conservative Mayor Jason Perry is oh-so-gradually rolling out longer opening hours at what remains of the borough’s library network. Ashburton Library and … Continue reading

Posted in Ashburton, Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Libraries, New Addington South, Norbury, Old Coulsdon, Purley, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South, South Norwood, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Directors leave scrutiny short of answers over council job cuts

KEN LEE reports from the frontline of budget discussions at the cash-strapped council, after a meeting where everyone is working very, very hard, but no one in charge bothered to turn up equipped to provide any answers  Councillors from both … Continue reading

Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Karen Agbabiaka, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Louis Carserides, Scott Roche, Stella Nabukeera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Jase and Kathy Show – a Christmas Special for Croydon!

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Inside Croydon has obtained a leaked video from an internal council webinar earlier this month, where the Mayor fails to mention the £83m overspend predicted in a recent report to government, and council CEO seems to blame … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Improvement Board, Inside Croydon, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Care leavers given short notice of council’s work scheme

A two-month paid internship scheme in Croydon’s housing contact centre sounds great, but applications are online only and all the borough’s public libraries – with free internet access – are closed until after Christmas Who would want to work in … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Libraries, Youth Services | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Libraries, churches and gyms all part of warm space network

Croydon Council and local organisations including churches, community centres and public libraries have created a network of 20 warm spaces across the borough to support residents through the colder months. They are part of a range of measures intended to … Continue reading

Posted in Addington, Ashburton, Charity, Church and religions, Community associations, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council puts the ‘sham’ into ‘shambolic’ over 4 closed libraries

It’s Friday 13th, so unlucky for some, as Croydon has designated this as the final day for applications to take over the four public libraries ordered closed by Tory Mayor Jason Perry. Bradmore Green, in Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley and … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Labour minister Bryant rejects public’s pleas to save libraries

Parents, grandparents and youngsters gathered at Bradmore Green Library yesterday, the council-run facility’s final day of operation. Bradmore Green, in Old Coulsdon, together with three other public libraries in Croydon – Sanderstead, Shirley and Broad Green – are being closed … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

They’re back! Cash-strapped council is staging its own awards

Katherine Kerswell’s council is spending money on a ‘special’ awards event, while at the same time preparing to close libraries and children’s nursery schools, and looking at another round of redundancies. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter Echoing the terrified … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council’s ‘totally unacceptable’ BHM effort is off to late start

Croydon’s Tory-controlled council’s miserable efforts to reflect and celebrate Black History Month have been branded “totally unacceptable” and “woeful”, with no publicity or materials distributed to what is left of the borough’s public libraries. The council’s propaganda bunker swung into … Continue reading

Posted in Activities, Art, Black History Month, Community associations, Croydon BME Forum, Croydon Council, Education, History, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

No money, no plan, no honesty: Mayor still closing 4 libraries

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Residents, library campaigners and members of the council’s scrutiny committee have all seen through the council’s dodgy recommendations for reducing the borough’s library service. And with the council running at £42m over-budget for this year, further closures … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Community associations, Croydon Council, Education, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Property, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council is reported to government for library report failures

Libraries correspondent GENE BRODIE on the latest twist in the long-running saga The cobbled-together, evidence-lite and contradictory report recommending the closure of four of the borough’s public libraries now faces a legal challenge – even before Croydon’s Mayor, Jason Perry, … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Charity, Community associations, Coulsdon, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Library Campaign’s formal complaint to DCMS over Croydon

‘Paltry’ savings, 66% opposition to closure and still no costings or plan. Here is the text of The Library Campaign’s formal complaint about Croydon’s dodgy libraries consultation, as submitted today to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport This … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry’s ‘cruel closures’ of one-quarter of borough’s libraries

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Residents’ groups in the south of the borough accuse the Mayor, and the council, of not listening, and raise serious doubts about proposals to transfer maintenance funds to other areas. By our libraries correspondent, GENE BRODIE Four … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Stranack, Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Legal battle expected as Perry to order four libraries to close

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tory Mayor is about to rubber-stamp decision which was ridiculed by local Conservative MP as providing savings that represent ‘a drop in the ocean of the council’s debt’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Mayor Jason Perry will … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Stranack, Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Shirley North, Shirley South, Stuart Collins | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments