Thanks to The Friends of the Tate South Lambeth, the Durning and other Vauxhall libraries and community groups such as The Vauxhall Society, Lambeth’s politicos and officials at last seem to have got the message that closing libraries is both a legal minefield and an election-loser. Jo Cleary, who runs Lambeth’s Adults and Community Services, has now put together a useful guide on how you make yourself heard on the libraries issue between now and when consultation ends on...

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Your help is needed! The Friends of Durning Library have launched a survey to assess how best to plan for the library’s future. They say: “Lambeth Council is currently considering the future organisation of its library service.  We know that there are to be severe budget cuts and if the community does not step in, our library may not survive. “As the library’s Friends, we need your help to decide how best to plan for its future, and so...

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Researchers beware – Lambeth Archives is closed for stocktaking from Monday 23 January to Saturday 4 February. Staff won’t be dealing with personal, phone or written enquiries – this is Lambeth, remember. Normal service (and history) resumes on Monday 6 February, and The Minet lending library in the same building will be open as normal throughout.  Lambeth Archives      

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Like to put a spoke in Lambeth’s plan to sell off historic public library buildings like the Durning and the Tate South Lambeth and either move the libraries themselves to or merge them in some dreary municipal ‘space’? You have until 12 January to post or email your point of view on the value of your library to the Parliamentary Select Committee on library closures.

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Reaction to the Libraries Commission report (read it here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=7646&x=) is now coming in, and could be summarised as ‘could have been worse, but still far too vague’. The Friends of Tate South Lambeth Library tell us they’re relieved that their and other smaller libraries are not for the chop, or not yet. On the other hand, the report isn’t clear about how much money the TSL will have to work with, given the ‘massive’ development planned for its...

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The long-awaited report of the ‘Libraries Commission’ that Lambeth Council set up under its ‘Cabinet member for Culture, Sport and the 2012 Games’ is now published. As the council’s own website says, Lambeth has the lowest usage, highest cost per visit and lowest levels of user satisfaction of any London borough. The commission’s report is tucked away on the council website in the agenda papers for the 21 November council meeting. A key commission recommendation? The council should do...

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Want a debate in the Commons about Lambeth and other local authorities’ plans to lose libraries? Then here’s a petition for you to sign (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1269). But read on… It’s all gone quiet of late in the ‘to cut or not to cut’ story of Lambeth’s libraries, but a cliffhanger is only a page or two away. What’s next?The Commission must report to the Council on or by 21 November, but may even release its recommendations as early as 14...

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Faced with the prospect of draconian cuts to the Library – including the possibility of closure – the Friends of Tate South Lambeth library have issued a call to arms on their website:   On 21 November  the Libraries Commission will present its report on the futureof Lambeth’s libraries to Lambeth Council. That report will contain proposalsthat could go as far as removing library services from our local library – TateSouth Lambeth Library. Why the danger?Because theLibraries Commission has...

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