To be moved by Councillor Rebecca Poulsen

Seconded by Councillor Mike Ellis

Council notes that:

1.         The Labour budget agreed to cut over £1.5M from libraries and museums for 2020/21

2.         Libraries serve an essential role in education – from early years through to older children and adults.

3.         Museums provide a valuable educational and cultural resource to all ages.

4.         Local libraries serve many valuable purposes including providing books, talking books, children’s activities, newspapers, computers and companionship.

5.         Libraries and museums need to be accessible to people, many of whom may not have their own transport or have the means to pay for public transport.

6.         All the Visitor Information Centres across the district except for the central Bradford one have closed in recent years to save money.

7.         The Local Studies Collection is a valuable resource and should remain in Bradford and Keighley and be accessible to all

8.         Baildon and Clayton are examples of libraries which have successfully run under the hybrid model using a mixture of paid staff and volunteers for the past two years.

Council resolves:

1.         To close Bradford Visitor Information Centre and relocate it to Central Library to reduce running costs.  This would give the opportunity to use the Bradford Visitor Information Centre space to raise income to put back into the service and also position visitor information in a better location for visitors to the city centre. 

2.         To value the expertise of paid staff who work in libraries and use their experience and knowledge to ensure our libraries stay open but in a slightly different role, emphasising the importance of supporting volunteers.

3.         To look at how local communities and volunteers can work with our museums rather than just reducing opening hours.

4.         Support our two Local Studies Collections and ensure there are trained staff available to manage the collections in Bradford and Keighley

5.         To invest in people by way of training volunteers to secure the future of our remaining libraries by using the hybrid model.

6.         To work with parish and town councils where they exist to recruit, support and organise volunteers.

7.         Support the “I can” initiative to encourage volunteers to support library staff

Resolved –

Council notes that:

• The budget passed at Full Council in February this year anticipates £1,050,000 being cut from Museums and Libraries in 2020/21 as a result of Tory Government cuts.
• Libraries serve an essential role in education and as community hubs for all ages.
• Museums provide a valuable educational and cultural resource to all ages.
• Libraries and museums need to be as accessible to people as possible, many of whom may not have their own transport or have the means to pay for public transport.
• Baildon and Clayton are examples of libraries which have successfully run under the hybrid model using a mixture of paid staff and volunteers for the past two years.
• The Local Studies Collection is an essential resource and must remain available to the people of the Bradford District.
• Libraries, like all valued public services, have suffered due to the Tory Government’s austerity cuts. Since 2010 several hundred libraries have closed across the UK, with almost 130 public libraries closing in 2018 alone. In addition, Public Libraries News estimates that the number of libraries which are community-run increased from around 10 in 2010 to around 500 in 2017.
• In Bradford District we continue to work hard to maintain high-quality provision within the reducing national budgets. Bradford Council’s net budget in 2020 will be around half what it was in 2020 in real terms. To date only one library in the district has been lost during this sustained period of Tory austerity.

Council resolves:

• To undertake an engagement exercise, gaining a wide range of views from library users, non users, staff, parish and town councils, volunteers and other stakeholders on how they want to see the library service of the future.
• Not to draw up any options or make any decisions on the future of the libraries or museum services until this engagement exercise with the public is complete.
• To listen, to publish those findings and to carry out further detailed and proper consultation in order to move forward and build a sustainable service for the future.

·         To thank our library and museum staff for their dedication to the service and to the Bradford District public in these difficult times of austerity. To acknowledge the great contribution made by the volunteers in the community managed libraries.

ACTION:       Strategic Director Place

A motion was moved by Councillor Poulsen.

An amendment moved by Councillor Ferriby, as set out in the resolution below, was carried.

Resolved –

Council notes that:

• The budget passed at Full Council in February this year anticipates £1,050,000 being cut from Museums and Libraries in 2020/21 as a result of Tory Government cuts.
• Libraries serve an essential role in education and as community hubs for all ages.
• Museums provide a valuable educational and cultural resource to all ages.
• Libraries and museums need to be as accessible to people as possible, many of whom may not have their own transport or have the means to pay for public transport.
• Baildon and Clayton are examples of libraries which have successfully run under the hybrid model using a mixture of paid staff and volunteers for the past two years.
• The Local Studies Collection is an essential resource and must remain available to the people of the Bradford District.
• Libraries, like all valued public services, have suffered due to the Tory Government’s austerity cuts. Since 2010 several hundred libraries have closed across the UK, with almost 130 public libraries closing in 2018 alone. In addition, Public Libraries News estimates that the number of libraries which are community-run increased from around 10 in 2010 to around 500 in 2017.
• In Bradford District we continue to work hard to maintain high-quality provision within the reducing national budgets. Bradford Council’s net budget in 2020 will be around half what it was in 2020 in real terms. To date only one library in the district has been lost during this sustained period of Tory austerity.

Council resolves:

• To undertake an engagement exercise, gaining a wide range of views from library users, non users, staff, parish and town councils, volunteers and other stakeholders on how they want to see the library service of the future.
• Not to draw up any options or make any decisions on the future of the libraries or museum services until this engagement exercise with the public is complete.
• To listen, to publish those findings and to carry out further detailed and proper consultation in order to move forward and build a sustainable service for the future.

·         To thank our library and museum staff for their dedication to the service and to the Bradford District public in these difficult times of austerity. To acknowledge the great contribution made by the volunteers in the community managed libraries.

ACTION:       Strategic Director Place