----- Original Message -----
To: Roger Tichborne
Cc: Hillan, Cllr Lynne Conservative ; Harper, Cllr Andrew Conservative ; Walkley, Nick ; Alex Hayes ; Rachel Sharp ; kim.inam@nlhnews.co.uk ; Lustig, Jeff
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 9:44 AM
Subject: RE: Extremely Urgent : Library consultation
Mr Tichborne,
There are no plans at the moment as we are carrying out a review of our service. You will just have to wait, like everyone else, until we have looked at all the data - how best we decide to take our library service forward. We have been clear that, given the reduction in the council’s income, libraries will have to cope with a smaller budget – as will other council services.
But while other boroughs are proposing to provide less of their current service, we are looking at ways of improving ours. The aim of our review is to provide a service that meets the needs of our residents. It does not necessarily mean doing exactly the same thing year after year and ignoring social trends or changes in how our residents want to use our services. Over the past few years we have bucked a national trend of declining visitor number because we have not been afraid to innovate with new services such as e-books or support for reading groups.
It seems to me you want services to be unchanged. I want them to be better.
And can I remind you again that you can make a full comment on how you think library service can develop, at www.barnet.gov.uk.
All the best
Cllr Rams
