URGENT! Surrey Library Campaigners need our help

 The following has been received by email and I am passing it on. Please spread the word via facebook, twitter, word of mouth and consider donating yourself.  

If we all make a contribution, even just a pound or two, think about that collectively.... what a huge difference this could make! 

We thank you for all donations so far, you've been great. BUT we still need MORE !!!!!!!!

Dear all, 

The Judicial Review is upon us, and is taking place on 19th & 20th March in the High Court, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

• Court Number 19, 10:30 each day

• You are able to enter and leave as you wish.

Please come and hear what is going on, the more the merrier.
We still need to raise funds towards the Community Contribution of £18,000.
Please pass this message on to all your own contacts.

Information on the case:The Counsels for the case are as follows:

 For the claimant:


Helen Mountfield QC - Matrix Chambers http://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/Members/26/Helen%20Mountfield.aspx


supported by Rachel Logan - Matrix chambers http://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/Members/93/Rachel%20Logan.aspx

 For SCC:


Elisabeth Laing QC - 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers http://www.11kbw.com/barristers/detail.php?bid=15


supported by Patrick Halliday - 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers http://www.11kbw.com/barristers/detail.php?bid=48

We expect the case to last the best part of 2 days. We expect the Counsel for the Claimant to present for the whole of the first morning and for a good chunk of the afternoon, and we expect then Counsel for SCC to be on her feet for the remainder of the afternoon and on second morning. We expect the Judge to sum up and conclude on Tuesday afternoon.

Lobby of ParliamentOn 13^th March, SLAM campaigners joined the rally at Central Hall, Westminster and the lobby at Parliament.  There were great speakers such as Alan Gibbons (Campaign for the Book), authors Kate Mosse, Philip Ardagh, and Ian Anstice (Voices for the Library and Librarian).  Also there was music provided by ‘Doyle and the fourfathers’ with ‘Welcome to austerity’ and ‘One man and his beard’ with ‘The library song’.  Running a stall gave us the opportunity to explain what has been going on in Surrey.  We met other campaigners from Brent, Croydon and Somerset, as well as individual campaigners and MPs (see the blog).
For more information see http://www.speakupforlibraries.org/
The library community has always in the past, had a spirit of sharing knowledge and resources.  The system of Inter Library Loans is based on this. Each sector should have some concern for professionals in each sphere.  It has been a difficult time for public library staff because their jobs are under threat.  Changing to fully volunteer run libraries has meant that jobs have had to move, and reductions in staffing due to retirement has occurred, as well as some redundancies.  Staff in public libraries should support SLAM because we want to keep these libraries open and keep paid, trained staff in them, but working more with volunteers.  Library staff in all sectors should support each other.

The speakers were enthusiastic and passionate about the great resource the UK has in public libraries, available to all, giving knowledge and opportunity to all. By doing nothing Ed Vaizey is handing the situation over to councils.  By setting up Community Partnership Libraries, the councils are handing over responsibility to neighbourhoods.  If these fail, it won’t be the council or government taking the blame!
Help SLAM to help libraries in Surrey. 

 Donations


You can pay by direct transfer as follows:


Lloyds TSB / Account: SLAM / A/c No. 48371668 / Sort code:30-99-80 along with an email to: slamtreasurer12@gmail.com with your name, address, amount of donation so that we can return donations if we win!


Thanks for reading, please HELP!


Jenny Meineck
SLAM Secretary 

www.slamupdate.wordpress.com

And, by the way......

I'm also personally collecting donations to pass on, with agreement from the campaigners. Flavours Coffee Shop in Warlingham have a donation pot and SLAM flyers too. 

I hope to attend the Judicial Review on at least one day if not both.

Please help!

Speaking up for Libraries at Libraries Rally, March 13th

As a library campaigner I am proud to be a founding member of the Speak Up for Libraries coalition. The idea of this rally and lobby was born from an idea mooted by those attending a Library Campaigners Conference, which was organised by Voices for the Library and The Library Campaign, held in London last October, at which Philip Pullman spoke.

We have heard Ed Vaizey say this morning at the CMS libraries enquiry that he had the utmost respect for those campaigning for libraries.  Well, I have news for Mr Vaizey.  This belief is not always reflected by local authorities, such as my local authority Croydon, and I know we are not alone.

We so value libraries that communities across the country have been pressured to accept a lesser service or to volunteer to run libraries themselves in order to ‘save’ them. BUT we must not lose sight that what makes a library a library is what people value most - the expertise, care, guidance and advice offered by qualified and experienced staff who deal with the public, without agenda or prejudice, and who cater for the needs of the whole community.

If I have one message to give, it is the message from all library campaigners that came from the Library Campaigners' Conference back in October. It is essential that we see campaigning for libraries on a national level rather than the divide and conquer approach currently in place, fed by poorly constructed and leading consultations and short-sighted cuts by local authorities who are not really listening to the communities that they serve. 

An open door, a set of books, does not a library make.

We must press for the Secretary of State to use his power to ensure that statutory obligations are met. 


We must make local authorities sit up and take notice.

Campaigner Groups Supporting Libraries Lobby

So who is supporting the  Libraries Lobby on 13th March, organised by the Speak Up for Libraries coalition of organisations and campaigners?  Details of the background to the lobby are here and full details of the event, resources, and so on are here. 


It is hard to pick through the twitter feed, facebook messages and so on, so I thought it would be useful to produce a list of campaign groups attending.  Add your details to the list below or email your details to soslibrary@hotmail.co.uk


Please don't forget to complete the sign up on the Speak Up for Libraries site too.  You can find it as http://www.speakupforlibraries.org/signup.asp

We are Speaking Up for Libraries on March 13th:

Save Sanderstead Library - @SaveSanderstead
Save Croydon Libraries Campaign -  @SaveCroydonLibs
Surrey Libraries Action Movement  - @Surrey_SLAM
Upper Norwood Library Campaign - www.unlc.org.uk/
Suffolk Library Campaigners

Pat and Peter Richardson, The Users & Friends of Manor House Library (Lewisham, London SE13)  

Save Kensal Rise Library @SaveKRLibrary  www.savekensalriselibrary.org
We Heart Libraries a group for everyone who loves libraries in North Herts and Stevenage - @WHLibraries  - http://www.weheartlibraries.org.uk/
Save Friern Barnet Library Group - @SaveFriernBtLib - www.tinyurl.com/savefbliby - http://www.facebook.com/SaveFriernBarnetLiby  

We Unite to Speak Up for Libraries

The Speak Up for Libraries coalition grew from an idea that arose from the  Library Campaigners Conference, organised by Voices for the Library and The Library Campaign, which was held in London late October 2011. The idea of a rally and lobby of Parliament was put forward by a library campaigner attending and it was met with resounding support from all those present, including Philip Pullman, who attended and spoke on the day.

The concluding message Philip Pullman delivered in his speech was, 

"I salute everyone who's come here today, everyone who's protesting and demonstrating to save this library or that one, everyone who's devising a way of preserving one of the greatest and the best gifts any society has ever given its seekers after truth, its children, its old people, everyone who is looking for help better to enjoy life or better to endure it; there's nothing more valuable in the war on stupidity than the public library. These are hard times, but you are each guarding a beacon, and based on what I've heard today, I have every confidence that you won't let that beacon go out."

You can read the full transcript of Philip Pullman's speech here. 

The strongest message coming from the conference was that we needed unified action, the need for library campaigners to work collectively and to push for the Secretary of State to intervene. March 13th is our opportunity to speak up for libraries. 


Find out more about the rally and lobby being held on March 13th on the Speak Up for Libraries website at www.speakupforlibraries.org 


You can also follow on twitter at @SpeakUp4Libs. The official hashtag for the March 13th event is #librarieslobby

Surrey Libraries Campaigners need our help!

A Judicial Review is due to take place on 19th and 20th of March, 2012 and Surrey Library Campaigners need our help! Find the full details here. 

The Legal Services Commission has granted the claimants legal aid but, due to the LSC having decided that the case is in the broad public interest and that a very large number of people stand to gain should the claim succeed, the LSC have insisted that the community makes a contribution to the legal costs in the region of £18,000.

Due to the High Court acting so quickly over the issue, Surrey Libraries Action Movement have very little time in which to raise the “Community Contribution” – just a few weeks!

 Can you help?

 Spread news of the campaign and the need for a 'fighting fund' 

Make a contribution to the cause:

Full details can be found here:

http://slamupdate.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-libraries-and-librarians/