£836k secured for the Durning Library

In case you missed it, just before Christmas Lambeth Council announced excellent news of significant investment into library buildings.

Durning Library is one of the biggest winners, with £836 000 allocated to pay for 'refurbishment to address essential health and safety improvements to the roof, brickwork, electrics and other repairs'.

The full details of the investment programme are here.

Unlike many other councils, Lambeth has committed to keeping open all 10 libraries in the borough, and investing in them to bring them into the 21st century.

In addition, we're working to turn our libraries into model 'cooperative' services. Today the Friends of the Durning Library and the library staff held an open day to show how local organisations can become more involved. To find out more, and to join the Friends, just pop into the library.

Pictured: Local councillors Steve, Lorna and Mark have always been completely committed to Durning Library, and fought hard to secure the recent investment

Questionnaire from the Friends of the Durning Library

'The Durning Library is an important part of our local community. Lambeth Council is currently considering the future organisation of its library service. We know that there are to be severe budget cuts and if the community does not step in, our library may not survive.

'As the library’s Friends, we need your help to decide how best to plan for its future, and so we need to hear your views, whether or not you use the library. Please complete this short survey – it will not take long and it is important that as many local people as possible have their say. Paper copies are available at the Durning library if needed, or you can download a PDF version from the website. Please complete the survey by 30 January. And please forward it to anyone else you think might be interested.

'We shall be holding a public meeting at the Durning Library on Monday 27 February to enable everyone to give us their views and the results of the survey will contribute to this discussion. So, PLEASE complete this questionnaire, either on paper or on-line, and return it to us by Monday 30 January.

Thank you in advance,
Priscilla Baines
Chairman, Friends of the Durning Library

(Our brand new website www.durninglibraryfriends.org.uk is now live – visit it to complete the questionnaire and to find out what is going on at the Durning library).'

Library Commission reports - future of the Durning Library

Lambeth's Library Commission have now published their report and the good news is that the Durning Library is not going to be closing.

We know that some residents have been worried about the library due to the closures of other libraries up and down the country and so we wanted to reassure you that this is not something that the council is considering.

You can download the report from Lambeth's website.

Lambeth Libraries Commission

The Lambeth Libraries Commission was established in May 2011 to undertake a detailed review of the library services within the borough.

On the Durning, the Commission say they 'strongly urge the community to consider the state of the building and the capital investment needed (£750k - £2m) as to whether the existing building is still fit to offer a modern library service and can keep pace with the demands of an increasingly technology based service.'

The report goes on to say that, 'The Commission recommends that citizens are involved in the co-production of a library service at the earliest opportunity. The local community will ultimately make any decisions regarding the relocation of the service.'

The Council’s Response

On 21 November the Cabinet is expected to make recommendations about the Commission Report. The two most important ones for the Durning are:

· Give greater control to communities around each existing library to co-produce their future library service. This includes decisions on which location is the most appropriate place from which to run an accessible and effective service given the resources available. There is no presumption that any area with a library service will lose it.

· Considers transferring library management and/or buildings to community-led organisations in each locality if consultation with local people shows that is the preferred option and if there is local capacity to take on such a commitment.

The council will start a consultation process in the near future on the new model the commission has recommended and I will certainly let you know when that happens so you can participate.

Your local Councillors’ Response

As your local councillors we have been steadfast in our support for maintaining a library in Kennington. We submitted a response to the Commission, which you can view here, and we have been working with other Labour councillors to ensure that the report reflects the hopes of the Durning Library users.

Moving forward, we shall ensure that you are kept informed about the future consultation process. We shall also be working closely with the Friends of the Durning Library to ensure that we can be one of the first areas to make decisions about the kind of service we want in Kennington.

What Kind of Library Do You Want?

As the Cabinet report makes clear the local community will make decisions about the library service in Kennington.

Would you like the library to remain at the Durning, even with £2m worth of improvements needed? Or is there another location you think would be better for a library?

What services should the library offer? Should it only offer the services it currently does or a wider range? Should we seek to move other services in there? Perhaps a cashiers desk to replace the local parking shop and where you can go to pay rent or council tax?

And finally, who should own the library? Should it remain in council ownership or should we convert it into a trust that is owned and operated by the local community? We have just done something similar with the Black Prince Trust so would this work for the Durning?

The Next Steps

If you are interested in the future of a library service in Kennington then you could take the following steps:

Read the commission report and the cabinet papers

· Have a think about all the issues raised in the report and in this email and start to think about what kind of service you want

· Participate in the council consultation and also the local consultations the Friends of the Durning will be running.

· Join the Friends of the Durning Library. If you care about libraries then you should join this worthwhile group. It is only £3 per year. Just pop into the library and ask to join.

Pictured: local councillors Steve Morgan, Lorna Campbell and Mark Harrison have been standing up for the Durning Libary.

Submission to the Libraries Commission by Prince’s ward councillors

We want to make the case for the Durning Library to continue providing a library service in its present building.

Well-used

The Durning has a higher footfall than any of the ‘non-town-centre’ libraries. It is significantly better-used than Carnegie, Minet, Waterloo and South Lambeth libraries. Its footfall (94938) is not far off the footfalls of Clapham (110640) and West Norwood (133440). This is remarkable as the ‘catchment area’ in which most Durning visitors live is pretty tightly drawn around the library, in the immediate Kennington area. This demonstrates that the local Kennington community uses its library to a greater extent than in other areas. It is also a reflection of the high density of this part of central London, with a high population within walking distance, large numbers of crowded flats, and a high level of deprivation.

Well-located

The Durning is located at Kennington Cross, in the heart of Kennington. It is very prominent and a focal point for the community. It is especially-well served by buses running north-south along Kennington Road.

Unlike the rest of Lambeth, ‘North Lambeth’ does not have a single town centre – it is a collection of centres – Waterloo, Lambeth, Kennington, Vauxhall and South Lambeth. There is no obvious central point which is easily accessible to everybody in the area. The history and high population density of the area explains why there are more libraries, and it would be very difficult to consolidate them into single location. Kennington Cross is the logical focal point for services in our area to be provided at.

Much-loved building

The Durning is an impressive and attractive building, opened in 1889, and providing library services to Kennington ever since. Local people want the library service to continue to be provided in the building. All too frequently councils make the mistake of abandoning historic buildings because they are ‘expensive’ or ‘difficult’ to maintain – underestimating the value which people place on the heritage of their area. The attachment Kennington residents have for their library was demonstrated in 1999 when they launched a vocal and successful campaign to save the library from closure. No doubt residents would be willing to campaign once again, if the library was under threat. To cease providing a library service in the building Jemima Durning gifted to Lambeth 122 years ago would be very sad. Moving library services elsewhere would also leave the Council with a highly-visible listed building empty – the Council would have to find a use for it, and would still face the issue of finding the capital investment it needs.

Willingness and capacity of the community to find a solution

The Durning is extremely fortunate to possess a large, capable, articulate and constructive Friends group, who are ready and willing to work with the Council to find solutions to the issues the library faces. They would be receptive to calls for volunteering, fundraising and Cooperative Council solutions. Local businesses are even seriously working up plans to offer to buy the building from the Council as a community hub. All these options should be seriously considered.

Solutions to the need for capital spending

The biggest issue the Durning faces is its need for significant capital investment, to deal with the backlog of maintenance issues and make the building completely fit for purpose for the 21st century. We believe the Council needs to acknowledge Durning’s needs and find creative solutions to attract investment. The following should be fully explored:

-The Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea development affects parts of Prince’s ward within Durning’s catchment area. The significant developments within the VNEB area should be contributing to the cost of sustaining and improving Lambeth’s local library services, at South Lambeth and Durning. We strongly suggest that South Lambeth and Durning are prioritised as recipients for VNEB investment in community infrastructure.
-As stated above, local businesses have expressed a willingness to explore buying the building as a community asset. This option should be seriously explored, as it could allow external sources of funding to be accessed.
-The issue of the Lambeth Living flat above the library is a challenging one. If a solution could be found, then the option of selling the building to a developer should be explored. The developer could then be responsible for maintaining the fabric of the building, could develop attractive flats upstairs, and be compelled to let the Council continue to provide a library service on the ground floor.
-Prince’s ward and North Lambeth are experiencing more than our fair share of asset sales, which bring the Council significant capital receipts. At the moment, the Beaufoy Institute and the Old Lilian Baylis building are in the process of being sold for significant sums. We fully support this, but believe there is a moral case that our much-valued library building should receive a portion of these large capital receipts. Our residents are having to lose potential community assets, and we think it is right that one of the most valued assets in our community gets the investment it needs in return. As local councillors, we are happy to work closely with officers to identify further unused assets and sites in our area which could be developed and bring in capital receipts to invest in our library.

This submission by Prince's ward councillors is kindly supported by the Friends of the Durning Library.

Lambeth Library Commission visit the Durning

This afternoon the Lambeth Library Commissioners visited the Durning Library in Kennington, as part of their minibus factfinding tour of the borough.

The Libraries Commission has been set up to find a way forward for Lambeth's library service. Low usage of Lambeth Libraries has resulted in the highest cost per visit, combined with the lowest levels of user satisfaction, of any London borough. Because of reductions in Government grant, savings of £750,000 in our library service need to be made by 2014.

The Commission includes library experts, two Friends of Lambeth Libraries, and three councillors.

The commissioners seemed impressed by Durning Library's attractive building, busyness, and friendly atmosphere. They noted some of the problems with leaks and other maintenance issues. Durning Library was opened in the 1880s, and is a much loved Kennington landmark.

You can find out more about the Libraries Commission here. Its interim report will be published in July.

You can become a Friend of the Durning Library by signing up at the Library.

Pictured: local councillor Mark Harrison shows commissioners Pete Robbins and Jackie Meldrum around the Durning.

What do you want from your library service in Lambeth?

Lambeth Council wants to know your views about the future of Lambeth libraries. The Council is asking local people and community groups to engage over the coming months in order to decide what a modern and effective service can look like in Lambeth.

Lambeth is starting a discussion with people in the borough on what they want from their library service. All your ideas will be fed into the Library Commission. This is a group of councillors and independent people with an interest in libraries. They will use your comments and ideas in order to draw up a set of proposals.

From these ideas the set of recommendations will then be made available for you to comment on. These are due by July.

Lambeth will be holding a set of public events, so you can come along and have your say and also hear what other people think. And there will be surveys and discussion groups with people who use libraries, as well as with those who don't.

There will be two "open space" sessions during June 2011. Open space sessions are a relatively new technique, which allows the participants to design their own working agenda. The process aims to ensure that participants have an opportunity to discuss what is important to them within the theme. Open style meetings use a variety of methods to stimulate discussions - this can include individuals posting their issues on bulletin style boards.

Saturday 4 June 2011 – 10am to 1pm, at Lambeth Town Hall (Assembly Hall), Brixton SW2 1RW
Tuesday 14 June 2011 – 6.30 to 9.30pm at Lambeth Town Hall (Assembly Hall), Brixton SW2 1RW

Visit the Libraries Commission pages in order to learn about what it is doing and find out who the commissioners are.

The close of the initial consultation will be Friday 1 July 2011.

How can you get involved in the consultation?

You can send your ideas about the library service to the following email address. Or you can contact us by phone to get more information about how to get involved.

Send an email to: LibrariesHaveYourSay@lambeth.gov.uk
Text: 07772 103 628
Phone: 0800 013 1497 or 020 7926 6397
Write to: Freepost RSKJ-YSKA-AUSA ACS Consultation, Lambeth Adults' and Community Services, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LL.

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/Consultations/ACSConsultations/LibrariesConsultation.htm