Dear Library Supporters,
I am writing on behalf of The Save Kennington Library Campaign. We are of the opinion that all threatened libraries should work together to persuade the Council to adopt a fairer way of cutting the libraries budget.
If all Oxfordshire libraries are kept within the Oxfordshire network (Galaxy), then a modern library system can be sustained and indeed volunteers can step in to help ameliorate the cuts, and even sponsors, heritage lottery funding etc can be approached to fill the gap. To increase spending on hub libraries and close 20 rural and suburban libraries is discriminatory.
Kennington held a public meeting with Councillor Heathcoat (cabinet member with responsibility for libraries) and John Jackson (administrator- future libraries) neither of them answered any of our questions directly. If you are planning a similar public meeting, do get in touch and we can share information and the questions they failed to answer.
We have a campaign proposal and hope your library supporters may like to join in?
We shall print 15 different letters asking questions of Councillors Mitchell and Heathcoat and will try to get as many individuals in Kennington to sign individual letters. Assuming people are at home when we call, we hope to get 500-1000 signed letters. If every threatened library can do the same, perhaps we can collect 5000-10,000 individual letters that will require a response. (That is the reason for doing it this way rather than a petition.)
A particular time and day needs to be arranged to deliver the signed letters to County Hall with as many supporters as possible in attendance before this is voted through in February. At the campaign meeting to be held in Oxford Town Hall on Thursday 20: 7:30pm, we will ask Philip Pullman if he will spearhead the handover and get the Regional TV news, radio as well as the press to cover it? We think this may be the most visible way to show the strength of feeling on this issue and get maximum publicity. Will your group consider doing a similar thing? We can email copies of letters. But if your group prefers to get up a petition, that can still be delivered at the same time.
What are your plans and ideas? Will you consider coordinating our efforts?
For more info we have a blog spot
http://savekenningtonlibrary.blogspot.com/
To contact us
Paddy Landau- Chairman of the campaign http://www.kenningtonchronicle.org.uk/or me for the Friends of Kennington Library
Regards
Sylvia Vetta vettasylvia@aol.com
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