From the Easingwold advertiser had this piece on the closing of Easingwold Library, it follows on from the decimation of Doncaster Librarys, see here of more info from the Barnsdale brigade
Tuesday 11th January 2011 saw the Easingwold Library closure make its way on to local television with a five minute piece broadcast on BBC Look North (North East & Cumbria, from Newcastle). It was the usual impartial BBC presenting all sides of the argument and with no NYCC representatives to defend their decision. Local author Mike Pannett is the figurehead of the save the Easingwold Library Campaign with many in the community helping to promote this worthy cause. It was originally reported in the Tiser on the 27th November 2010 that a rumour was circulating that Easingwold Library was to close. Since then we have had numerous letters and articles relating to this closure. If you wish to help you need to contact North Yorkshire Libraries on tel: 01609 533800 to find out how to register your opposition to this closure.Unfortunately when we launched our Make Your Vote Count Campaign (Opposition to paid parking in Hambleton) in October 2010 we were unaware of the Library shutting in 2011 otherwise we would have included it our campaign. However, the Make Your Vote Count campaign is just as applicable to this cause as to the parking issue. We contacted NYCC in November 2010 for a statement about the closure and as of Wednesday 12th January 2011 we are still waiting. In fact not only are NYCC extremely quiet on this subject but none of our elected NYCC Councillors (to find your councillor go to: http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10227) have contacted us here at the Tiser to explain this decision which I am sure they knew all about long before it became official. Yes we have a recession, yes we need to control spending but NYCC have had two full years to lay the ground rules on spending. The NY Times (NYCC Council Newspaper) which costs £67,000 per issue is still being produced (two years after the recession started). The farce which is the Easingwold Market Place Improvement Scheme is still going ahead (£200,000) and that doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands of pounds spent in the past decade on this scheme. Let us not forget that NYCC has nearly £20 million in the bank (reported in the regional media in December, excluding current annual budget) languishing for what reason? NYCC seem to be cutting services before looking at cost saving measures, which would not affect services.Any competent small business owner could easily reduce expenditure without redundancies or cutting services. Measures taken could be: no more fact finding tours, overnight stays, team building exercises, social engineering courses, have statutory sick pay, have statutory maternity/paternity pay and leave. Use low tax, high fuel efficient vehicles if needed otherwise conference calls for meetings. Mobile phones/laptops only for those that need them. Make 65 the retirement age for all. These suggestions have not even touched upon salaries or pensions, which, if there are to be cuts to these, should be made to start with at the top end and not the bottom end of the wage structure. Local politics as we have seen in the past year or so do matter so make sure that you vote and hold those in power accountable, otherwise the Library closing might only be the start.Editor
Libraries are a right, we have the right to free information and books, this crass government is dismantling all the things that we have fought for over the years, decent pension age free NHS free Librarys, they are all be taken away, and lets get this straight, its nothing to do with the state of the economy, this is political and spiteful politics, taxing the banks and rich who only pay 2% Tax would reduce the deficit instantly. Love Libraries hate Condems
