Fears library will be permanently closed (From Your Local Guardian)
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Fears West Norwood library will be permanently closed
8:48am Tuesday 17th January 2012 in Top stories By Charlotte Meredith
West Norwood library, along with the adjoining Nettlefold Hall, was closed in June
Residents in West Norwood are becoming increasingly frustrated about the status of their library – with some even being sceptical it will ever re-open.
The library, along with the adjoining Nettlefold Hall, was closed in June last year after callous vandals stole copper wiring from the roofs, causing substantial rain damage.
Repairs were delayed after asbestos was exposed and Lambeth Council has stated that until a condition survey is completed it is impossible to estimate an opening date.
A temporary library is open at Lambeth Resource Centre, but residents have complained it is insufficient.
The Facebook group Save West Norwood Library posted: “Our beloved library was not just about books. There really is no substitute.”
Concerned long-term resident, Lillian Bedford, said: “I can’t get about very well and I’ve had to go to charity shops to get my books. The library is a vital service for elderly people – if it didn’t reopen I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Councillor Florence Nosegbe, Lambeth Council’s cabinet member for culture, said: “We are working with the community to make sure a library service that meets the needs of residents in West Norwood is available as soon as possible.
“We appreciate the temporary library service currently available at the Lambeth Resource Centre is unsatisfactory and we are looking at alternative sites, like the Old Library, so a better library service can be provided.”
Bibliophiliac says...
8:39pm Sat 28 Jan 12
Instead a low quality cheap temporary repair was done with plastic sheeting. This was breached by rain several times early in 2011, causing dirty water to flow over the bookshelves and computer workstations in the library. Management failed to act to improve the roofing. Finally very heavy rain in June 2011 caused catastrophic flooding, which led to severe internal damage, discovery of the asbestos, and the closure of the library.
As the roofing theft problem started two years ago, why has the Council delayed a condition survey until 2012? Why was there a policy of neglect towards the building from 2010, if the Council did not intend to close it if they could? Why will the Council not commit to reopening the library? How was the asbestos missed in the asbestos survey of all Lambeth libraries carried out by specialist contractors at considerable expense a few years ago?
Answers are needed now to these questions and to this fundamental issue - is Lambeth Council fit for purpose as a public library authority? There is mounting evidence that it is not.