As the ex-Chellaston Library staff sit and wait for their P45’s to mark the end of their employment with Derby City Council, they read Cllr Ross McCristal’s ( Chellaston Ward) Facebook announcement […]
After 7 month hiatus, new, improved Library implementation plan fails at first hurdle.
The Council’s Library strategy is a mirage – an illusion! An unreachable position; but one that is still affecting the lives of dozens of library staff still left dangling in limbo. Thus […]
Libraries Strategy ; the floundering, failing policy and the forgotten Council staff who continue to wait for their future.
The Council’s Libraries Strategy has run aground! Despite overly positive rhetoric from Council Officers about how well the Libraries project is doing, the evidence does not bear this out at all. At […]
Time to Pause the failing Library Strategy; there is a better way forward, for everyone!
The new Conservative administration seems to be supporting and continuing the Library strategy with the imminent “transfer” of Allestree library. This is despite the evidence on the ground being that it is […]
Why didn’t Council’s Labour group propose saving 46 Library staff with “underspend” from last year?
The previous Labour Council’s rhetoric was that Libraries had to be reviewed and made ‘community managed’ due to the impact of Central Government cuts. They had no choice?! In the 12 July […]
The first Community Managed Library is formally launched in Sinfin.
Today, the ribbon was cut by the Deputy Mayor, Frank Harwood, at the formal opening of the first Community Managed Library, in Sinfin. The deal was formally signed by Derby City Council, […]
Council’s Library strategy in chaos due to poor Data Protection planning
If you go into Derby’s first Community Managed Library in Sinfin, you won’t be served by Direct Help and Advice’s (DHA) volunteer staff, but by paid, Derby City Council, library managers. One […]
Derby City Council likely to breach new Data Protection Regulations with Library strategy.
Derby City Council operates a very strict Data Protection policy in its libraries; it stipulates that volunteers have no access to the Library Management system. They are unable to view any personal […]
Council protects Management jobs at the expense of front-line paid Library Assistants….still to be replaced by volunteers
The Council’s strategy to offload 10 libraries to Direct Help and Advice (DHA) by the end of 2018, is now in progress with the first library, Sinfin, being handed over in Mid-May […]
Council to spend over £1m to close the Central Library – no savings to the taxpayer until 2027.
The popular belief is that the Council is closing the Central Library to save money for the Council Tax payer; a necessity driven by funding cuts from Central Government. However, it will […]
Council’s library strategy will fail until it accepts that the answer is NOT with Community Managed Libraries (CMLs)
The Council’s policy, with respect to the 10 non-statutory libraries, was to encourage volunteer led community groups to run them; so-called Community Managed Libraries (CMLs- as defined by Locality). No such groups […]
Council declares it has £55 million of usable reserves…which it is choosing NOT to use to save services!
The Council has recently published its Statement of Accounts for 2016/17. It is a 141 page document which details comprehensively the Councils financial status for the year to 31 March 2017. Much […]
The Council’s Library Strategy is dead! What now…?
The idea that 10 community groups would emerge and coalesce into 10 structures that could develop seamless plans to take over the City’s non-statutory libraries, recruit nearly 1000 volunteers, make 40+ paid-staff […]
Council Officer blows apart financial plan for Libraries review
At a Library briefing this morning, Claire Davenport, Director of Leisure and Culture for Derby City Council provided answers to questions from Derby News that undermined the urgency and timing of the publicised […]
£130,000 “black hole” the Council hasn’t declared to prospective Library Volunteers.
On September 4th, the Council released detailed packs of information to help any prospective group, planning to volunteer to run a library, to understand its potential costs. On closer examination, it is […]
5 weeks slip to Library Review plan, already! Lack of interest? Or people have a social conscience?
The original racy programme to push through the conversions of 10 libraries into Community Managed Libraries before the end of 2017 is failing already. Is the public seeing through this proposal? Is […]
Councillor’s legal “booby trap” over Libraries proposals.
For legal reasons, Councillors have to tread very carefully in how they get involved in the proposals to convert 10 Council run libraries into Community managed Libraries. Previous articles and background to […]
Libraries Proposal : the “small print” that volunteers should read carefully
The Libraries Proposal to create Community Managed Libraries (CMLs) contains some important small print that all Volunteer groups should be aware of before they sign up. The default position is that each […]
Derby City Council are, again, targetting low-paid women!
The business plan assumes that all existing Libraries staff will be made redundant across the 10 locations. These are: Allenton, Allestree, Blagreaves, Chaddesden, Chellaston, Derwent, Sinfin, Mackworth, Oakwood, Spondon The numbers of […]
Executive scrutiny of Library decision frustrated by indifferent Labour Cllrs, whipped votes, and obtuse Council Officers
Any suggestion that this evening’s Executive Scrutiny Board was going to be anything other than a charade, that wasted public time and money, was completely dismissed quite early in this pointless 2.5 […]