Green councillors for Sudbury and Great Cornard have called upon Suffolk County Council to delay taking the decision about taking libraries in Suffolk back in-house until more research has been done.
Read the full text of the letter from the Councillors to Philip Faircloth-Mutton, SCC Cabinet member for Environment, Communities and Equality.
Dear Philip,
We are writing to express our concerns and those of our residents in Sudbury and Great Cornard.
Many members of the public have been in touch to say that they are worried about Suffolk County Council’s plan to take the libraries out of Suffolk Libraries’ management and back into the control of the County Council.
The decision has been made very quickly and without speaking to the users of the libraries, or to the vital Friends of Libraries groups, without whose fundraising and help the libraries would not be able to run.
Many of the volunteers are now saying they will no longer give up their time if the Council makes this decision. Will the libraries be able to continue without these people?
In your Cabinet paper, it says ‘Some projects currently delivered by the provider will come to an end’.
Which projects will end in Sudbury and Great Cornard? Is it the groups for adults or all the different groups for children? The Lego Club, the Tot Rock or the Stay and Play? The users of these groups would like to know because for some people these groups are a lifeline.
And what about the services online and across the rest of the county for dyslexia, adult literacy, mental and physical health and much much more?
As members of Babergh council we understand only too well the need to make prudent and difficult decisions to protect the public purse.
However, in this case the decision seems to have been made without an in-depth look at the finances of Suffolk libraries or a detailed business case for moving into the future. Your announcement said that managers’ pay accounts for 33% of library payroll, when in fact it is less than 8%. Was this trying to mislead the public, or had somebody misunderstood the figures?
Please can you delay the decision about the future of libraries in Suffolk until there is more clarity around the issue, and give Sudbury, Great Cornard and indeed Suffolk residents – not to mention Suffolk Libraries employees – a better idea of what the future holds?
Laura Smith, Ruth Hendry, Jessie Carter and Tim Regester