A rather odd comment in this Times story (paywall). Most of the article is about cuts in general in local government, but one quote comes from some one connected to Kensal Rise Library. The story says:
“When we say library, it has to be multifunctional,” Stephanie Schonfield, a trustee of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library, explains. “It just has to be. We have to survive. We’ve got absolutely no public funding.”
What I find odd about this is that Kensal Rise Library has said that it does have public funding. The February 2018 newsletter states:
"We have been successful with our bids for funds to both the Community Infrastructure Levy and the Harvist Trust. From the former we have two grants totalling £95,000 and from the latter £5,000. All will go towards the refurbishment of the library space, computers and books."
The Harvist Trust is a somewhat obscure charity used by local authorities on the A5 to disburse grants of up to £5,000. The Community Infrastructure Levy is a tax on property developers paid to a Planning Authority and used for what are thought to be socially useful investments (schools, highways improvements and so on). It is a tax in exactly the same way as the Council Tax or Business Rates (or indeed the taxes used to make central government funding to local authorities.
The refusal to recognise (which I am sure is quite sincere) that this is "public funding" in the ordinary sense of the term is a curious mental quirk.
UPDATE
I am sorry to have taken so long with publishing the comment below. Previously I had an alert about comments but it seems to have disabled itself. I have covered before that Brent Council could not "give" the building away since it did not own it.
On the other point that building costs do not count as part of the library service. Actually they do. How would you run a library without a building? During the Libraries Transformation Project we were repeatedly told that the online services, whilst welcome, could not themselves supply an adequate service. I accept that point. Therefore you need the buildings to run a service from, and that the capital grants are therefore providing necessary but not sufficient funding towards whatever is now done in the former library building.
I would argue you also need staff for an adequate library service of the kind Brent Council should provide, but evidently FKRL have something different in mind.
1 comment:
No public funds for running the library. Funds so far have gone towards the refurbishment of the space. We got an empty space - no electrics, no gas, no floor etc etc If Brent had given us the library instead of returning it to All Souls we would not be in this position. You created this situation. So short sighted, and mean, actually, and a real neglect of your fiduciary duty. You could have sold the library and put the proceeds into the library service, legally. So quick to not listen to the community.
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