Ed, Dan and Mo and the tale of a library

From the Good Library Blog LINK

A hundred years ago, All Souls College in Oxford, who own land in the area of Willesden in North London, gave a part of it to Willesden Council for the purpose of a public library and reading room

The only condition of the free gift was that the building, which is in Kensal Rise, should remain used in that way.

If it stopped being used like that, then the ownership of building and land would 'revert' to All Souls. The deed which states all this is clear and still exists. The responsibilities that lay with Willesden council have since become responsibilities of the London Borough of Brent 

Earlier this year, in 2012, Brent Council decided - for some reason that is still not completely and properly explained- that it no longer wanted to use this 'Kensal Rise Library' and they removed, in the middle of the night, the council's assets, like books and furniture and art, thus making it, in their eyes, no longer a library.

And so, as the original deed had envisaged, the building 'reverted' to the ownership of All Souls College - who rather to their surprise and astonishment, find themselves with a large building in North London which is currently empty and unused. 

The local people of Kensal Rise in long running despair of the actions of their local council have tried every which way they can to prevent the closure of their library. Their efforts are noble, considerable and now world famous. They include the creation of a community library within the precinct of the building in an attempt to prevent the 'reverter' clause from acting. (the library cat is called Rusty)

One would have thought that the normal response of councillors and highly paid public officials in Brent, to the local people, would have been to be sympathetic, at least, and to explain their reasons and even, if it were possible, to bend their conclusions and plans to try to help meet the desires of the residents.

On the contrary, the constant response of Brent's Labour Council has been to sneer, to deride, to deceive, to dismiss and in the end to behave in the most disgraceful and even disgusting manner possible. The local people in response have only been articulate and polite in their argument for the importance of this and other community libraries.

The council's behaviour indeed, caused sufficient embarrassment in Labour Headquarters, which are not so far away that the waves of public derision passed them by, that both Ed Millband, the leader and Dan Jarvis, the spokesperson for public libraries, weighed in and tried to make it appear all right. They even tried to arrange for some dialogue where very little had taken place beforehand. 

But this has all proved to be water in the sunshine - they were unable to make any difference

To the list of evils for which one must blame all these Labour Politicians and dandies, one must add deep dishonour. 

Brent Council should have returned Kensal Rise Library, if it was going to do that, in at least as good a state of repair as they received it from All Souls 

All Souls are now faced with a repair bill of Five Hundred Thousand Pounds - which is the cost of putting right a building neglected by those people to whom it was given in good faith and trust. 

If Dan Jarvis is to persuade anyone that he is credible in his arguments - and particularly when he accuses others of failing in their responsibilities for public libraries, as he regularly does,- then he and Ed Millband, should tell the Labour Councillors of Brent that good honour and honest behaviour - to say nothing of normal practice in the use of other peoples' property- demands that they immediately make over Five Hundred Thousand Pounds for the renovation of the building that they dilapidated. 

If only all these people were just honest, simple and straightforward there would be no problem with public libraries. Oh I wish

Dan Jarvis backs Butt's attempt to seek Kensal Rise 'solution'

Dan Jarvis MP

Muhammed Butt has had a rocky start as Brent Council Leader issuing what appeared to be contradictory statements about his room for manoeuvre regarding the future of the closed libraries and then apparently torpedoed by the infamous 2am raid on Kensal Rise Library.

Now Dan Jarvis MP, Shadow Minister  for Culture, who had despaired that Brent Council's closure undermined Labour's opposition to library closures, has stepped in to back a new approach, albeit limited to volunteer solutions.

This was posted on his blog LINK on Friday:

Dan Jarvis MP, Labour’s Shadow Culture Minister, has welcomed Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt’s announcement today of an agreement to work with local campaign groups with the aim of keeping Kensal Rise library open as a community project.

The council is offering to start a dialogue with campaigners based on their offer to run the library at no cost to the council, and help them with a limited package of support, if the remaining obstacles to the transition can be overcome.

Councillor Butt said:

When I took over as the leader of Brent council in May I made it clear that I wanted to improve the relationship between the council and the community. That is what I hope we can achieve with this decision.

I was not leader when the decisions that led to Tuesday’s removal of materials from Kensal Rise library were taken, but that action happened on my watch and I take responsibility for it. Now I am determined to establish a new dialogue with the community in Kensal Rise. To this end, I have had a series of meetings since Tuesday with campaigners, fellow councillors, and council officers.

That does not mean I can offer an easy solution. Our libraries have to bear a share of spending cuts, and I make no apology for that. The deep reductions of over £100 million in Brent's budget imposed by this Tory-led government mean we have to make difficult choices about all our services. But it is also right that we have a meaningful discussion with local campaign groups, and if a way can be found to lessen the impact of the cuts without undermining our financial stability, then we should explore it.

What we have agreed today is to sit down with the campaign groups and work with them on the basis of their proposal to run the library at no ongoing cost to the council. The plan is also dependent on an arrangement being reached with All Soul’s College Oxford, which donated the land to the local community on condition it was used as a library, and on resolving a number of other issues. But the council will make every effort to overcome these obstacles.

As a gesture of my commitment to Kensal Rise library I have instructed officers to return the plaques taken from the library as soon as is practically possible. I have also instructed council officers to prepare a limited but significant package of support to help the transition, if an arrangement can be reached. This will include professional development and technical support, as well as seed funding.

Dan Jarvis said:

This is a very positive result that reflects Labour’s understanding of the importance of libraries to local communities, and the need to have as full a dialogue as possible on any changes to the service.

We hope this decision will mean Kensal Rise library is preserved as an asset for local people to use and develop. It is not an easy way out – it puts a good deal of responsibility on the shoulders of the campaigners and there are a number of issues that will need to be worked through before a final agreement can be reached. But we believe these obstacles can be overcome – and that this is an appropriate balance to strike between the wishes of those that want to see the library preserved and the financial pressures the council faces.

The council deserve credit for this move, and Councillor Butt has shown real leadership in coming forward with a solution at a difficult time for the council. He has my full support as this process continues.

The 'need to have as full a dialogue as possible (with communities)' should also apply to the other closed libraries and to the Willesden Green Redevelopment.

What did for Ann John?

From the Save Preston Library 'Wall of Shame'

As the dust settles on the Brent Council leadership changes it is worth reflecting on the reasons behind the ousting of Ann John and what it means for the future.

The libraries issue, both the closures and the redevelopment of the Willesden Green Centre, has been the most contentious aspect of Council policy. The presentation as 'transformation' rather than closure; the labelling of opponents as self-interested, unrepresentative and middle class; the ignoring of petitions; the suggestion that cheap books were readily available at Tesco; all riled local citizens and the energetic and resourceful campaigners kept the issue in the local press and crucially on the national media agenda.

Nationally, Brent Labour's library policy became an embarrassment for the Labour leadership. Brent's policy was at odds with Ed Miliband's public opposition to library closures and shadow culture minister, Dan Jarvis's championing of the public library service. Ken Livingstone, Barry Gardiner MP and Navin Shah were all local Labour politicians who distanced themselves from Brent Council's policy.

Privately back-bench Labour councillors spoke about their opposition to the closures but confessed themselves powerless and some Executive members had reservations but were bound by collective responsibility not to oppose openly.

So a combination of a personal and presentational style that alienated the public and a political control that brooked no internal opposition, backed by a close personal and political alliance with Gareth Daniel the Chief Executive that insisted there was no alternative, all contributed to Ann John's demise. Of course the libraries issue was not the only one that divided the local party. The possibility of the council entering into a partnership to open a free school in the borough and acquiescence in academy conversions reveals a similar pattern with the leadership-officer combo arguing that 'there is no alternative' being opposed by some Labour party members on political grounds.

The problem with Muhammed Butt's succession is that he has been closely identified with Ann John as her deputy leader and, although his personal style may be more open and friendly and his presentation of policy less aggressive, his actual policies may be little different. He is likely to have a more collegiate relationship with his colleagues but a lot will depend on the experience, strength and stance of the new Executive. Will they be more independent of officers and more open to debate and persuasion?

Perhaps most importantly is the question of the administration's attitude to cuts in local services. There have been differences of emphasis about the impact with the Labour Council at first arguing that their cuts had been made in such a clever way that they would not harm residents but latterly pointing to the massive cuts in local government funding, combined with central government cuts and welfare reform, that would seriously damage the quality of life of many local people.

Muhammed Butt's views on the cuts are best accessed by reading his budget speech which is available on his blog HERE

In his leadership acceptance speech Butt said that building unity across the borough would strengthen its capacity to take on the fight against Coalition cuts. The political question is about the nature of that fight. With the Labour Party enjoying some success at the polls and the Coalition increasingly unpopular, will Brent Labour be pushing for a mass campaign against the cuts and be prepared to refuse to implement them when the damage to local people is intolerable?. Will that stance be backed by Labour nationally?

I would like to be proved wrong but  am afraid that the answer to both questions is 'No'.

We may see more efforts at dialogue with residents, mollification rather than vilification of campaigners and some minor concessions perhaps on volunteer run libraries, but little change in the overall direction of council policies.