Aspley, Basford, Bilborough and Radford-Lenton library are all on the chopping block. Don't miss the chance to have your say...
Nottingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt last November, joining the beleaguered ranks of authorities like Birmingham, Woking and Northamptonshire which have fallen victim to more than a decade of cuts from central government.
No area of public life has been safe from the aftershocks of the Section 114 notice, our library services included. Now faced with budget cuts of nearly 40%, four local libraries find themselves on the chopping block - Aspley, Basford, Bilborough, and Radford-Lenton.
Seeking £1.5 million in savings within two years, Nottingham City Library Services is running a twelve week consultation called ‘Shape Your Vision’, to gather the public’s thoughts on the matter, and to crowdsource, perhaps, solutions to troubles ahead. For tens of thousands who make use of these resources, this might be the last ditch saloon.
‘I lived in Bilborough,’ said poet and TV producer Henry Normal on a return home to speak about his career. If that library had never existed, he said, ‘there would be no Royle Family, no Gavin & Stacey, no Philomena…’
These are places which encourage reading and quiet reflection, but increasingly there has been more to the humble library than checking out Anna Karenina or Animorphs. We’re a country with a growing absence of community spaces - 500 children’s centres in England closed between 2010 and 2018, for example - and in their place, libraries have played a crucial societal role. These are rare spaces in which someone without WiFi can search for jobs, access a food bank, find a warm seat as energy bills soar.
This is an important moment for Nottingham's culture and community - we at LeftLion urge you to have your say and contribute any ideas or resources that you might have. Faced with adversity, we’ve always been a town whose instinct is to pull together, and on this subject a sense of optimism is long overdue.
To get involved with the 'Shape your Vision' library consultation online, visit this site and fill out the survey before Monday the 19th of August. Paper versions of the form are available from all city libraries.
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