Barry Gardiner intervenes over Town Hall Library mess

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, went and saw the state of Brent Town Hall Library himself after complaints from constituents and my February 9th post on the issue LINK

The Library was in a mess after stock and shelves were transferred from closed down libraries including Neasden.

He saw  boxes of books dumped on the floor in disarray and apparently unsorted, stands and shelves with sharp edges unsecured and protruding. He wrote to Sue McKenzie, Head of Brent Library Service to express his concern and remarked that if health and safety inspectors had visited at that time they would have noted several serious health and safety risks.

He requested that the issue be sorted out urgently and also asked what would happen to the books currently being moved from the six libraries, and when they would be available for use by the public. In addition he asked if other options had been considered including dispersal to Brent schools, nurseries or children's centres

I visited the Town Hall Library earlier today and it was a lot tidier, although there are still boxes of unsorted books tucked under the  bookshelves. A number of additional shelving units from Neasden are now in use at the Town Hall. A large space has been cleared for the  '60 years of Wembley' exhibition which begins at the Library on Saturday. It looks likely that things will be quite congested.

Brent 'transforms' Town Hall Library into a rubbish dump

In January I posted an article, 'Town Hall Library invaded from the south' LINK about the books stock and shelves from the closed down Neasden Library being off-loaded into the Town Hall Library and the subsequent over-crowding and mess. The library is still in chaos as the pictures above,  from the Preston Library Campaign website LINK, show.

Local people have begun to complain bitterly about the state of the library and it is clear there aren't enough staff available to clear it, and more importantly, make the stock available to the public as promised.  Instead it is  in boxes on the floor, sometimes stacked at a dangerous height; on trolleys and in the staff work room. In addition there are empty shelving units, and some books from the usual stock, such as those in Hindi, are no longer accessible. Windows and blinds are inaccessible because of the additional material and parts of the library are cordoned off.

Is this a comprehensive and efficient library service?

As well as the state of the library itself, local people are having misgivings about the move to the Civic Centre next year. The library, despite being based at the Town Hall, also serves a community function as the local library for the families of the Chalkhill Estate (and its primary school), Pilgrims Way Estate, and the flats on Kings Drive. They use the homework club,  half-term activities and the Summer Reading Scheme. All will be far less accessible to them  when the library moves all the way to the new Civic Centre. Older chidlren wil no longer be able to go there independently and it will be further for school trips from Chalkhill Primary and Ark Academy's primary phase.

A further question being asked is, 'Will the Civic Centre Library be closed on event days?' . Having seen the crowds of fans in the triangle formed by the Civic Centre, Stadium and Arena my answer would be that even it is open, it will hardly be the place for families to battle against the mass of boisterous fans to go and change their library books. This will mean that the new library won't really be open the promised 7 days a week. If you take the current period until May the stadium will be in use for sports activities on 8 weekend days and one evening. There may be other events in addition to these as well as those on at the Arena.

Town Hall Library invaded from the south

Brent Town Hall Library is looking a mess at the moment, with books, boxes and bookcases all over the place. The reason? Books and bookcases from Neasden Library have been shipped up Blackbird Hill to the Town Hall following the closure of the library.  The ill-matched furniture will take some sorting out and the books will take even longer.  The Town Hall Library, which was carefully redesigned a while ago with excellent access and circulation space is looking rather a shambles. Staff have been cut as part of the Transformation programme so it may take a little time to get it organised.

In 2013 the whole lot will be packed up again to be transferred to the new Civic Centre Library. Local people from Chalkhill are just waking up to the fact that they will soon lose their local library and will instead have to travel some distance to the Civic Centre. This particularly affects children who were able to go to the Town Hall Library independently.  There is additional concern that the Civic Centre Library will be unavailable on event days and event evenings when large crowds are attending the adjacent stadium  The Stadium is staging an increasing number of events to make money to pay back the building loan. There is speculation about on just how many Saturdays the Civic Centre Library Hub will be closed or inaccessible.

It's not just the Town Hall Library which is a mess!