With Brent Council is proposing to “change the way residents experience libraries in the borough” let’s remember that libraries are More Than Books.

Friends of the libraries under threat of closure by Brent & Friend of Libraries NOT under threat are campaigning to change the Councils plans. Keep up with the campaign and volunteer your support, ideas, skills and stories at More Than Books.

I’m now a Friend of Cricklewood Library. I join the group last month and attended a meeting. Going to be making a few Freedom of Information requests to Brent Council in search of data on public consultation exercises and service use.

More… when I’ve got my degree work finished?

Goldsmiths SU has successfully campaigned for changes in the opening hours of the colleges library and ICT facilities. I’m interested in exploring what other ways the information that is stored in the library building can opened up to the benefit of students and staff alike. I’m not so much speaking about new things that the library can do, rather I am interested in ways in which existing services and resources could be linked up, extending their use.

Currently recommendations for reading / viewing / listening are distributed to students as files to download from learn.gold.ac.uk (which we usually print) or in hard copy (which we then annotate). Students then navigate to the library website to find out whether a given publication is even available, and what its shelfmark is.

However, there is the potential to make the process of recommending, finding, borrowing and even commenting on the value and relevance of a particular library resource more seamless by linking-up the library website and learn.gold site.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cllr Chris Leaman writes

“The rumour and subsequent petition started after a report which recommended library closures was released into the public domain. This report was based on a strategy to libraries that was agreed under the previous Labour administration.

The current executive have rejected this plan and asked for a new strategy to be written. I understand that the new strategy will not recommend library closures. The new draft library strategy should be published in the next few weeks.”

And Sue McKenzie, Head of Libraries, Arts and Heritage for Brent Council adds:

“The rumours are unfounded. We have no plans to close Cricklewood Library. It is unfortunate that the petition is being circulated as it adds credibility to the rumour. “

I’ll certainly be correcting the local rumour mill and be asking the local store to withdraw the petition.

I have heard rumors locally about the closure of Cricklewood library and today signed a petition, organised by Friends of Cricklewood Library to keep it open.

I’ve emailed Brent Council and the Lib Dem Councillors to try and discover more truth or otherwise about this rumor.