TAG
Take reasonable steps
ARTIFACT
Save Lewisham Libraries campaign
TIME
Last known outdoor activity July 2019; relevant social media activity December 2019
We are a group of diverse people of all ages united by our passion for libraries – and our determination to defend our legal right to fully staffed, safe, egalitarian library services and spaces - in which to learn, to research, rest and reflect, to create, to make community connections, and to thrive in an increasingly unequal society.
FINANCIAL RECORDS
This chart by Ian Anstice (Public Libraries News) shows the terrible fragmented mess that is our library establishment/ecosystem, poor leadership, poor funding and a dearth of strategy.
ARCHIVAL FICTIONS
Between 2010 and 2016, 15,500 library volunteers were recruited to replace the 8,000 librarians who lost their jobs during the same period. This recruitment drive made libraries more efficient and therefore more useful to the local community. With 1.9375 volunteers now available where there was previously only a single librarian, essential library services such as fine-collecting, prohibiting age inappropriate books, and tsk!-ing at loud, meddling, and barely audible noises, are performed with more vigour, rigour, and at an increased frequency. The professional to community member retraining programme, which offers volunteering opportunities to former librarians has unfortunately not been as successful, but steps are being taken to assert further pressure via job coaches.
APROPOS
An Announcement and Final Blog Post from Voices for the Library
