Saving Our Libraries
The rigorous, ongoing process of stripping out waste and finding every possible efficiency saving across all parts of the Council and its activities is certainly a major task. However, I only have to consider for a moment what we have to lose if we don't succeed in continuing to find the vast savings required to remind me how important it is. Once vital services are lost, it is hard to see them coming back. To take just one example of a key service which I am simply not prepared for us to lose in Bedford Borough our libraries, for instance, are fantastic community facilities which must be protected.
Over the years I have seen the role of libraries evolve and expand. For example, I have been hugely impressed by the excellent range of activities which are now provided for children, there are more and more IT resources and an expanded range of items for loan including CDs, DVDs and even, in Bedford Borough's libraries, energy monitors to help householders keep their energy costs down and protect the environment! One thing that has not changed, however, is the library's role as a cherished community facility. That's why we have protected all of the Borough's libraries in this year's budget, and have also avoided any reductions in opening hours. I popped along to Putnoe Library last week with Goldington Councillors Phil Merryman and Sylvia Gillard last week, and even in the middle of the day noticed the flow of people in and out.
Amid all the talk of library branch closures around the country, mobile libraries are often forgotten, but of course they provide a lifeline for many rural communities. I visited the mobile library in Pavenham before Christmas, and chatted to several of its users. They all told me how important the service is for the village, and also gave me some tips on good reads they had enjoyed recently! Sadly this previously 'shared service' is being cut by Central Bedfordshire Council, but this crucial front-line service will of course be protected for Bedford Borough's rural communities.
