Willesden Library Cafe Closes

Sadly the Willesden Library Cafe opened for the last time yesterday.  When I think back to how long it took to establish, this is deeply disheartening.  Brent Council probably now needs to consider whether it needs to reconfigure the building.  If the cafe were in the "Reading Room" it would have a more natural frontage to appeal to the passing trade on Willesden High Road.

Martin's Lament
Meanwhile, the closure has given Martin Francis an opportunity to showcase his negativity about Willesden Library.  It is such a good demonstration of his techniques that it is worth quoting in full.  He writes:

 "When Brent Council decided to demolish the 1980s Willesden Green Library and sell the car park to a private developer  they renamed its successor a 'Library and  Cultural Centre.' In the course of the redevelopment they closed the cinema and denied any space to the well-loved and well-used Willesden Bookshop. The bookshop could not afford the high rent and overheads that would have been demanded by Brent Council even if an adequate space had been made available. The cultural offer was limited by a closure time of 8pm and a demand that any event going on after that time should pay an additional sum for security.


Now the Delipod Hub cafe, on the ground floor of the building, which has been attracting a local following, especially for its Friday night music sessions, has thrown in the towel in after a valiant attempt to keep going."

Firstly, it is wrong to say that the cinema was closed "in the course of redevelopment".  In fact the cinema ceased to show films round about 2000, because it was not commercially successful and could not afford digitalisation.  The Willesden bookshop was charged very little in the old centre because the space that was built there had inadequate storage for a retail use.  Had the bookshop wanted to continue as a bricks and mortar enterprise, Willesden High Road has a number of shop fronts of varying sizes.  The fact that the same owner closed their Kilburn bookshop branch at the same time hints that they were responding more to the rise of the Internet, which has been devastating for the physical book trade.

The final point about opening times is valid and I have raised it myself, although Martin doesn't really make any allowance for the financial pressure on the Council from the Tory cuts.

He also doesn't mention that the old Cafe Gigi also closed down some time in the first decade of this century, so it is clear that the whole sector is a tough one to operate in.  It is not just a matter of Brent Council being somehow just malignant.  I notice he also doesn't mention the presence of the art gallery, the Brent Museum, the small scale occasional dramatic/artistic/musical/film and book reading events in the library, the smaller exhibitions or the other art works on Willesden High Road in his dismissal of the "Borough of Culture".  He also seems to have forgotten that his own opposition to rebuilding the Willesden Library would have meant it continuing without any cafe at all.