More London Library services are now considering closure programmes. Both Barnet and Harrow are thinking about the issue. Personally I am glad that Brent settled its strategy in 2011. If it were only being considered now, I suspect the Council would be going through a crude budget cutting exercise, with little regard for service improvements.
Barnet's plans strike me as especially strange, as they emphasize creating much smaller libraries with more limited services. That is the opposite of what was done in Brent, where services were concentrated in larger buildings which people could travel to. Making the buildings smaller makes them less flexible for events, and helps ensure that only one thing can be done at a time. For instance a noisy storytime session in a very small library might drive other users out, while a big library like Wembley can accommodate such sessions whilst other people continue to use the library for quiet space.
I can also see that the Barnet report has been written with potential litigation very much in mind.
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