On September 4th, Havering Residents gathered outside the Town Hall to protest the threatened closure of 4 of our libraries.
The protest, organised by local unions, was well attended by all sides of the political world.
Havering's Resident Association (HRA) administration is making the claim that they have no choice but to close 4 libraries. Something demonstrably false and shown to be so many many times. They have been in power for 3 years, are sitting on over £3m of funding available for library regeneration, and are looking to save just £300k a year.
The threat of closing libraries is short sighted.
I believe, however, that they have always planned to "pull a rabbit out of the hat". As with the budget, they pretend they have no choice, let people get upset, and then last-minute change direction and claim some kind of 'listening' took place.
Myself, and others, have constantly outlined alternatives. Not once have the HRA acknowledged any of those ideas, let alone decided to pursue one. Not that we know of, anyway.
Watch my speech, below. The full text is at the bottom of the page.
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Text of speech
Thank you Mr Mayor
Those who read what I write will probably agree that I should spend more time in a library, brushing up on spelling and grammar.
Mr Mayor, I took advice from the protestors, they said I should bring some books with me. I’ve brought a couple with me. I’ve got a copy of Alan Bennet’s diaries. This particular copy is signed. I accompanied it with a copy of the Bible.
It's a very strange combination, I'm sure people will be aware of that.
I thought I’d be witty and read an excerpt from Bennet’s diary. So, I turned to September 4th to see what he had to say. And oh what luck! It’s about the only day he doesn’t say anything at all. Perhaps a hint for me?
But I do have something to say, so I’ll dive into the other book quickly. Afterall, it’s probably a more ‘wholesome’ than Bennett's diaries.
It says in this good book; “A man of knowledge enhances his might”. I like that.
or “My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge”.
There's also a good quote in here, that the heart of the wise turns to the right and of the fool to the left. But we'll leave politics out of it.
Mr Mayor, books and plays are an escape to me. The ability to wander into the library and pick up a guide to dinosaurs made me inquisitive. Where’s Wally books kept me entertained for hours, for free. And the microfilm, remember them, helped me to take my grandmother back in time to re-live happy memories
Mr Mayor, we all know the value of a library. And no-one wants to close them. I lean towards believing that. But it is seeing that is believing.
When I attended the libraries consultation and I shared my ideas about how to save the libraries, I was spoken over and spoken down to. And my ideas included transforming the libraries into multi-use venues.
Mr Mayor, I can’t possibly, as the HRA amendment says, ‘recognise this administration is considering all options before closure”… Because they simply don’t talk about that. They mostly speak about closures
If they are speaking about options, then I'm encouraged, but could they speak a little louder.
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