I mentioned the outstanding performance of Brent Libraries yesterday amid a national situation which is generally gloomy. Numerous authorities are now contemplating shrinking their library services. These include Fife, Croydon, Barnet, Camden and Hounslow. It is all drien by George Osborne's 56% cut to local government funding, which is totally unsustainable coming as it does on top of massive cuts in the past five years.
Brent is likely to see continuing library expansion for this year and next year, but after that it looks pretty bleak. The success of the Libraries Transformation Project in raising both usage and user satisfaction whilst cutting spending shows that a sound strategy is key to minimising the damage from future budget cuts. That is why Brent Council should be consulting on its library strategy now, not letting the issue drift.
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