The Birmingham Loves Libraries campaign has been launched to stop Birmingham City Council’s planned closures

A new campaign has been launched in a bid to save a number of community libraries in Birmingham from closure. Birmingham Friends of Library groups, Save Our Libraries campaigns and a host of other library users and residents have joined forces to launch a city-wide Birmingham Loves Libraries campaign.

It is challenging Birmingham City Council’s plan to save millions from its budget with a £2.3m cut to its library services after the authority effectively declared bankruptcy. The council has proposed merging its library service with its Neighborhood Advice and Information Service.

The library budget is currently £5,370,000 and the information services budget is £350,000. The merger, along with the changes, would save 40% of the combined budgets, the council said.

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It proposed four options for its library service – the first “do nothing”. But it said: “Even before Birmingham City Council’s current financial difficulties, there were insufficient budgets to manage and maintain all the city’s libraries.”

That option involves cutting staff by 50 per cent – ​​the council said in real terms 27 libraries were operating rather than a headline figure of 35 due to “current staff shortages and building closures”. This would involve “unplanned, permanent library closures because building repair costs cannot be met”.

The second option would be to keep the Library of Birmingham in the city center and reduce the remaining 34 community libraries to six, which would be “enhanced” with the “extended” schedule.

The third option is to go from 35 community libraries to 11 – including the Library of Birmingham in the city centre, which is open six days a week. This is believed to involve maintaining one open library per constituency. The remaining libraries could be run by volunteers and community groups.

The fourth option – which the council said was its preferred choice – was to go for a “mixed delivery model” of centers run by city council libraries, open five days a week, which provide “library and early intervention and prevention”, some open. part-time and council staff ‘placed with community partners/groups providing library services’. That would equate to 25 libraries kept open, the city council said.

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But campaigners Birmingham Loves Libraries said option one – the no-change option – would see staff working just half a day to a day and a half a week, with some libraries closing due to lack of maintenance.

The six-community library option was ignored by campaigners as it was likely to mean the city council had failed to meet its statutory requirements for a “comprehensive and effective library service”. And the option of 11 community library centres, with other libraries relying on volunteers, was said to be “unclear”.

The fourth option of a combination of full-time and part-time community centers with library facilities was said to be “vague” as to how many there would be. And it would depend on community-run library services.

The campaign calls for all the city’s community libraries to remain open publicly owned and professionally staffed. It said the council’s proposals to close 25 of its 36 libraries or hand them over to unfunded voluntary groups did not meet legal requirements. The organizers urged the public to sign his petition.

Emma Lochery, from Friends of Kings Heath Library, said: “We are launching Birmingham Loves Libraries to bring together everyone who wants to protect and support our libraries and the services they provide to the community. We want to say with one voice: we keep our libraries open, public and professionally staffed.

“We are asking people to join the campaigns to keep their local library open, sign the Save Birmingham Libraries petition and write to their councilors and MPs.”

Sarah Barton, from the Save Stirchley Library campaign, said: “Our libraries are the beating heart of our communities. Across the UK, libraries are visited more than any other cultural service.

“They reach people regardless of income, age or ethnicity. They are lifelines, especially in the wake of the pandemic and amid the ongoing cost of living crisis. Shutting them down will prove costly in the long run.”

Rav Chohan, who campaigned to keep Handsworth Library open, said: “Birmingham’s libraries are at the heart of our communities and provide vital resources from education and digital inclusion to culture and wellbeing. At a time when people are facing more cuts to their services, local libraries remain the only safe, open and warm space that gives people real support for free.

“They need to be protected and our local authorities need to be properly funded by central government.” Elaine Jackson, from Friends of Erdington Library, said: “It’s not a question of whether we can afford to keep all the libraries, but whether current and future generations of Birmingham can afford to lose them.”

Rukhsana Malik, from Save Hall Green Library, said: “The city-wide campaign to save libraries is a rallying cry against austerity cuts. We will not allow our libraries to disappear under the weight of budget cuts. It’s time to come together, shout and say loudly that our libraries are priceless and we won’t let them go without a fierce fight.”

While Sutton Coldfield library campaign group FOLIO (Friends of Libraries in Our Sutton Coldfield) is part of the campaign, having successfully saved Sutton’s main library from proposed closure a few years ago. Birmingham Loves Libraries has its own website www.birminghamlovelibraries.org with information about consulting the city council. and how members of the public can get involved in the campaign to stop mass library closures.

The city council’s consultation on proposed changes to its library services runs until July 14. Online consultations are taking place in the city this week.