#Croydon Gets Funky! #youcouldnotmakeitup

It would be funny if it were not so serious and so terribly disheartening.

I wrote about my concerns regarding MyVoice in Croydon, which is not being adequately advertised to the youth, resulting in poor take up, in my previous post . The Croydon MyVoice youth have been dis-empowered by Croydon Council who have denied them the right to set up an official twitter and facebook account, like so many other local authorities have done, to empower their youth and to promote their library service.

My Voice should be promoted to the youth in Croydon, not just because Croydon receives funding to deliver it but because it is such a brilliant scheme. MyVoice  is a Reading Agency project aimed at 11 - 19 year olds.  It offers youth new skills and experiences, helps to build confidence, improves communication skills, teaches how to manage a project, allows youth to offer up their own thoughts and ideas, to negotiate, to make decisions, manage a budget and so much more. It is aimed at getting youth into libraries and empowering them to lead and take decisions.  That is, where it works well, but not in Croydon.

I thought it was bad enough that Croydon were putting barriers in the way of advertising MyVoice and that they would not promote the work of Teens4Libraries, who are youth involved in the project, trying to advertise what is going on, but being ignored by the council twitter accounts....BUT IT GETS WORSE... 

An invitation to the first planning meeting is detailed here by the youth involved and another post gives further details of what was discussed by the few who attended and forward plans. Croydon Radio Arts Programme host, Janet Smith, picked up on it too, as a result of Teens4Libraries, and read from their blog, discussing it with author Diane Messidoro. You can read the post here, which includes an audioboo of the programme.

The Council will not promote this blog, or retweet their tweets or information, promoting Croydon libraries. Instead the council accounts @yourcroydon and most ironic of all @CROYdemocracy tweet misleading information, and all the while knowing that work has gone on, behind the scenes, again without the input of youth involved in the project. After meeting on 7th August the following has silently appeared...

Yes folks...it really does say funky!

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the adults (who I shall call the grown ups), empowering youth in Croydon try to convince the youth involved that they came up with the idea that they are designing a funky (yes FUNKY!) programme of events. The name of the event was still undecided, according to the youth involved, yet seems to be set in stone now by the grown ups.  

I'd also like to see how they explain away the twitter account set up without any input from the youth. And yes, you guessed it. It is also called @CroydonWordFest, even before the grown ups have convinced the youth they chose it!

And it will be a laugh to see how the grown ups convince the youth involved that they had some hand in setting up the Eventbrite booking system, already advertised without their knowledge, on facebook .

So we have a Facebook page and a Twitter account set up, not only without youth involvement but without even informing the youth involved and those naughty grown ups have also started to take bookings. To add insult to injury the grown ups have use cringe-worthy terms like funky. It seems the programme is now advertised too so what real input can the youth have?

And who or what is Journeys, I hear you ask, as I did.

Well they made their debut appearance on Twitter as @CroydonJourneys on 23rd August, just a day after the silent placing of Croydon Word Fest on Facebook and on Twitter. This twitter account seems to be a replacement for @JourneysCroydon which last tweeted in May, but the new account has a lovely added twist...check out the bio for the account.

Loving the grocer's apostrophe Croydon!

And if you follow the link you'll find that this links to the Croydon Young People's Services website; a council run site for the benefit of Croydon youth, which failed to advertise the first planning meeting on the7th, which realised only 4 youth, but posted quickly after to advertise the meeting this Saturday, 8th September

The team behind it including the Head of Croydon Youth Services who, you'll see if you read my last post, claimed to still be trying to track down information on the MyVoice project in Croydon Libraries after I raised it in a public meeting on 19th July, some SEVEN weeks ago. It really beggars belief.

But there is more...

The @CroydonJourneys account has not tweeted about the MyVoice Word Fest event advertised on their site but some of their posts have been retweeted by @CROYdemocracy and @yourcroydon council accounts so all are aware of each other yet still ignoring the youth. Nice!

But at least the council is being a little more proactive about advertising the event, unfortunately though, with little clue how to do this.  Just how many 11 - 19 year olds would think to look on the  Do It volunteering site (with credit given to Volunteer Centre Croydon)?

 And, no, it really is an afternoon event from 2.30pm, unless there is something else the grown ups aren't telling the youth involved!

So, where from here?

We owe it to our youth to promote this event, to get them involved. Spread the news and help to empower youth as this project intended, despite the grown ups within Croydon Council who apparently have no faith in the capabilities and potential of our youth and no clue how to promote things on social media. The funding is provided so make use of it.  It is a brilliant project and the library staff are keen to make it a success, as are the youth involved.

So please:

• Spread the word
• Follow Teens4Libraries blog and twitter accounts (and @SaveCroydonLibs if you wish, who try to promote anything to do with Croydon libraries)
• Get your 11 to 19 year olds involved

We owe it to our youth not to give up and accept this shambles.

And don't forget the events will be funky, so well worth the effort.....  White fringed ankle-length cowboy boots, disco moves and 100% synthetic fibre jumpsuits optional.....  We'll leave that for the grown ups, shall we?

Let’s promote MyVoice in Croydon!

Just what do youth have to do to be heard and valued in Croydon?

As a parent, an educator and library campaigner I am beyond frustration at the on-going situation in Croydon. I’m raising this publicly in the hope this will help to resolve the issue, to the benefit of Croydon youth and our libraries.

The history to the situation is detailed on the Save Croydon Libraries blog and on Inside Croydon for anyone unfamiliar with the erosion of Croydon library service, but suffice to say we found ourselves having to look further afield when the usual activities available to my teens dwindled. I found out about the MyVoice project on The Reading Agency website, quite by chance, and not via the Croydon Council website or any official promotion. With no information forthcoming from any Croydon source I scoured, I contacted The Reading Agency to find out more, and how to get involved.

It really was unbelievable to learn that MyVoice, aimed at 11-19 year olds, was running in Croydon Libraries, and had been for some time, yet it was not being advertised.

The sessions run on a monthly basis at Ashburton Library.  My daughters and their friend went along to find out more and get involved. We were disheartened to see how few attended, but given the lack of publicity it was not a really a surprise.

Not long after joining, the group got involved in the planning of the MyVoice celebration, which was a great event, with a performance given by LoveLife6958 run by Chris Syrus, a real highlight of the event but, like the monthly sessions, relatively poorly attended as not widely advertised. 

  
What possible motive could there be to skimp on advertising when Croydon had so many avenues via its many websites, network of libraries, own Your Croydon magazine, billboards and its Twitter account to let the public know and get teens involved?

Some of the group were even given the opportunity as part of the MyVoice project to be trained in using social media by attending an excellent day in London, facilitated by Sound Delivery, to explore how Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Audioboo worked and how they could be employed to promote libraries and youth engagement.  But, unlike other local authorities, Croydon would not allow the Croydon MyVoice youth who attended to share this training in a session with other Croydon MyVoicers, or to set up a Croydon MyVoice facebook or Twitter account to use their skills.

Word Fest Planning in Croydon!

The latest planned event is a Word Fest, again poorly advertised, that is, until Teens4Libraries, who are involved in the project, asked that the council twitter account @YourCroydon help spread information by giving a retweet.  Not a lot to ask, was it? 

The council account @YourCroydon and then @CROYDemocracy started promoting particular activities as part of the event, which may not seem a problem, but the whole point of the project is to engage youth in the decision making process, empowering them. Does it not seem more than a little strange that, given the information by the youth involved, the council accounts would continue to tweet about just three areas of focus?  Again, what possible motive could there be for this and why not re-tweet or link to the fuller information provided by the youth involved?

In the last few days the council website has finally added details about the MyVoice project and the Word Fest event, I suspect in response to this request from the Teens4Libraries bloggers that the council retweet the information that had been put on the Teens4Libraries blog.

The work of Teens4Libraries has received more attention of late, with local Croydon Radio Arts programme host, Janet Smith, offering to publicise the project and reading information from the blog on several of her programmes, and their follower list on twitter is growing, week on week.

I’ll leave it to you to decide which is more informative and inviting: We have this from the council

and this from Teens4Libraries

  
The tweets sent by the council narrow the activities down to just three, not yet agreed with the youth. The poster advertising this event was again produced without the input of the MyVoice youth but by an adult or adults within the council.  It was meant as a starting point to engage youth.

Can YOU help support this excellent project in Croydon by promoting it, and give the youth involved and the library staff putting so much time and effort into it, the support they deserve?

In a public meeting of the Croydon Communities Consortium I raised the concern that this valuable project was not being effectively promoted in Croydon and the head of youth services gave his assurance to look into it.  To date, six weeks on, he has been unable to gain the information for himself to come back to me on this.  If senior council officers are left in the dark, no wonder the public are unaware!

The information on the Teens4Libraries is the correct, agreed information discussed at the first planning meeting, and anyone is able to post to the blog.

Teens4libraries, in the absence of an official facebook or twitter account,  are trying to promote the MyVoice events and particularly the Word Fest planning event to get more 11- 19 year olds involved to make a difference.

The MyVoice Project is a positive project, aimed at engaging youth in libraries and should be promoted, even if no funding was being taken for running it but to take funding for a project but fail to advertise it, or to disempower the youth involved by taking decision making out of their hands is a travesty in my book.

The library staff running this project are keen to make it a success, as are the youth involved.  Let’s get the proper promotion of this project that it deserves.

Please make comments and suggestions on the Teens4Libraries blog but above all spread the word to ensure that the information gets to those who would benefit from this great project - the youth of Croydon! 

All 11-19 year olds welcome.

Heart of Darkness - A user perspective

Having read Alan Wylie's account of his visit to Hounslow  libraries, which you can read here:  http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/heart-of-darkness-trip-to-hounslow.html we thought a user perspective might be useful.  With this aim a fellow library supporter/campaigner and I visited Hounslow Library in the Treaty Centre.

My first impression was that it was quite inviting. Perhaps in comparison to most Croydon libraries it was, as our libraries have been left to deteriorate over many years - the fabric of many of the Croydon library buildings is in need of repair, let alone the décor. In comparison the environment was very clean and streamlined.

Once inside there was no real buzz or interest in the library. As you so rightly point out, we were struck by the lack of events and the heavy focus on notices encouraging volunteering.

It was pleasing to see a simple display promoting Story Lab, the children's  Summer Reading Challenge though. Unfortunately this was not followed through in the children's section, where the displays were bright, eye-catching but without any sense of real child involvement and lacking any promotion of events for children.  Given that we visited only days after the launch of Summer Reading Challenge I would have expected a real splash on this but nothing caught our eye.

I hate to break it to you too Alan but you saw Hounslow Library after the refurbishment, not before.  That tired, outdated 1970s décor you refer to is the result of the refit, including that carpet! It was carried out in April apparently. Users say the refit makes the library much more spacious, although I understand that the large designated study area was lost in the refurbishment and a notice makes clear that you may not use the Local Archives area for general study purposes. This has impacted on students who use the library who no longer have a quiet place to study, without interruption.

The service desk pods were a striking but bizarre feature: aseptic colour coordination. Of four pods only three were manned, each accommodating and staffed by a single member of staff. Staff had to dash back and forth and between pods to tend to library users needs or to liaise with a colleague. Queues formed while staff endeavoured to cater to the needs of library users. Staff were very efficient but had no time to engage with any library users whilst we were there, other than to meet immediate needs and queries. I should imagine it is really stressful!

The self-service machines were a sad feature in my opinion; library users each dealing with their own borrowing and returns, with no facility as far as we could see to borrow books from a person at a desk. How sad to see the parents of a small child borrow a pile of picture books from a machine with no librarian to engage with the family or the child, to offer encouragement, offer suggestions or pass on information about an event. It was similarly sad to see adults drift in, browse, borrow and leave without engaging with anyone.

The shelves were extremely neatly presented, with some face on display of books. For a central library the selection was quite sparse though and there were strange book stocks noted, such as a large selection of Chinese texts - surely this does not reflect the demographics of the area served.

The inclusion of a children's walled off castle-themed area was an attractive addition to the children's area of the library. I could imagine story-telling and events going on without interruption here.

My questions after visiting are:

• How and why do staff work in isolation? There was a security guard on duty in the library but staff worked in isolation, leaving them open to abuse. Staff cannot also liaise over simple queries or refer an enquiry on to a colleague easily.

• Are staff instructed to man the 'pod' desks only? Staff seemed to man the pods rather than engage with users, even in the children's section.  Sadly, I admit, they had little time to do anything else but this.  I question whether three staff members are enough for a central library.

• The overriding question we came away with though is what interest John Laings has in running library services and how is it possible for John Laings or any other provider to run a library service for profit? Where is the money made in running a library service and where does the money for a refit come from, if running a library service for profit?

The big question is... Are councils, such as Hounslow, Wandsworth and Croydon, so inept and incompetent at running basic services efficiently, such as libraries, that private companies are chomping at the bit to snap them up, for profit?

As always, I have the greatest admiration for library staff who work under such pressure.  Is this really what Hounslow Library was like before the intervention of John Laings?  And the real question - has John Laings' management actually added value to the service or just added to the profit of John Laings, to the detriment of the Hounslow community?

Is a Barwell-Blyton the next Gove Bible?

 Justin Tomlinson MP, chair of APPG on Libraries, promotes The Summer Reading Challenge yet Gavin Barwell, the MP who chairs the APPG on literacy doesn't, but feels it is his right to tell professional librarians, teachers and parents how ill-equipped they are to choose appropriate texts to engage boys, and to promote reading to improve boys' literacy.

Does Mr. Barwell wish the public to believe that:

• Parents are unqualified to support their own children's reading, even when experienced themselves and supported by extended families, librarians and teachers, unless, of course you are of the same sex as the child.
• Qualified librarians and experienced library staff are nothing more than silly cotton wool-headed bods who knock around libraries over years, stamping a book or two for good measure and know absolutely nothing about books, authors, genres, trends and the like.
• Those teachers who, like librarians, studied all those years for those worthless degrees and followed these up with year upon year of useless experience of  working with the whole gamut of ability ranges and specific needs of a diverse group of children, could not possibly know. Particularly lacking are female teachers it seems, as texts suitable for boys are beyond their comprehension. 

The great self-taught educationalist Mr. Barwell must be so exasperated. What this motley lot fail to see is that they need not worry; one MP has ALL the answers. So Mr. Barwell's view is based on sound research, facts and reasoning? No. It's based on the MP's own experience of reading Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton and Tolkien's, The Hobbit, as a child (did he really?).   

 No need to engage with parents or librarians, teachers and experienced library and school staff. Mr. Barwell knows best!

Shall the next token government initiative be a Barwell-Blyton to accompany a Gove Bible in every school?

What do parents, librarians and teachers know anyway?  Many might recommend reading award winning authors and poets relevant to today, such as,

Janet and Alan Ahlberg 

Philip Ardagh 

Malorie Blackman 

Quentin Blake 

Tony Bradman 

John Boyne
Raymond Briggs 

Anthony Browne
John Burningham
Steve Cole
Eoin Colfer
Andrew Cope
Anne Fine 

Michael Foreman 

Neil Gaiman
Alan Gibbons 

Charlie Higson

Anthony Horowitz 

Eva Ibbotson
Dick King_Smith 

Jeff Kinney 

Andy McNab 

Spike Milligan 

Michael Morpurgo 

Robert Muchamore 

Patrick Ness
Michelle Paver 

Dav Pilkey 

Philip Pullman
Michael Rosen 

Tony Ross 

JK Rowling 

Louis Sachar

Francesca Simon
Justin Somper
Jeremy Strong 

Sue Townsend 

David Walliams 

Ian Whybrow 

Benjamin Zephaniah

But, really, what do we know?

The panacea is a Barwell-Blyton.... 
and, perhaps, lashings of ginger beer all round!

Croydon shy to consult on its libraries

Croydon, the council that professes efficiency embedded in its DNA, has been caught out again for the shambolic handling of another library consultation. The council not only omitted to advertise the consultation on Upper Norwood Joint Library, it actively promoted it on the council website as not yet open for consultation. 

All this, despite the consultation actually being open.


The original Croydon consultation on six libraries was similarly shambolic but, like Upper Norwood Library users, the community jumped into action to spread the word. 

• Residents raised the alarm when the consultation documents did not arrive in libraries.  
• They then raised the alarm when the consultation documents ran out only days after they became available. 
• They objected when the next batch of documents were so poorly printed they were barely legible, certainly unsuitable for anyone with visual impairment of any kind.
• Residents even resorted to photocopying consultation documents at their own expense to keep them available to those wishing to respond.
• They continued to demand that the promised children's consultation document be released. It was, but very late in the process, meaning many were unaware and unable to respond.
• Residents also repeatedly corrected MPs, councillors and, in particular, Sara Bashford, the cabinet member responsible for the exercise, when libraries were referred to as partly or completely discretionary,
• And spoke up in numbers when Croydon embarked on an outsourcing exercise involving the whole network of Croydon libraries (not just the six that were the subject of the consultation), denying residents and library campaigners the details of the 412 responses that the council claimed informed this decision.

Having given every assistance to the council in the original consultation on six of its libraries by flagging up where things went wrong, library campaigners stood back to observe the Upper Norwood Library consultation. checking daily to see when the details of the consultation being open would be released.

Despite finally losing our nerve and posting the details of the misinformation on this blog it took Croydon a further week to correct the information on their website.

That's less than a fortnight before the consultation ends and over a bank holiday weekend when the furthest thing from people's minds in checking the council website.

You can find full and correct details here:

 http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/consultations/upper-norwood-library-provision/

And the worst thing about this?

Upper Norwood Library campaigners had already alerted Croydon Council when they had prematurely advertised the library consultation as being open before the opening date, sending residents on a wild goose chase for the consultation documents. They corrected the information on the council website but failed to revise the entry when the consultation did actually open.

Given that the consultation meeting has now been rescheduled for the evening of Wednesday, 16th May it allows residents, still unaware, the window of just a few days to grab a consultation document and respond by the deadline of Sunday, 20th May. 

Might have been useful to have added details of the consultation deadline. Just saying!

If you care about Upper Norwood Library please make sure you attend the meeting and make sure you respond to the consultation.  My advice would also be to keep a record of your response to help campaigners to represent your views.  Croydon seem very reticent to share!

The irony of Croydon producing a poster to promote the meeting of the 16th, that includes the wording,

"Your chance to learn more about library proposals for library services in the area" 

just days before the close of the consultation, may be lost on the council but not on the residents who stand to lose their valued, much-loved and much-used library service.

No wonder Inside Croydon likened dealing with Croydon Council and its political leadership to dealing with someone with all the maturity of a petulant toddler, with their fingers firmly planted in their ears.

Yeh but, no but. What consultation?
Statutory.... you what?

The fate of Croydon's central network of thirteen libraries may well be sealed but you have a real chance to speak up for the jointly run Upper Norwood library. Don't miss your chance!

More details at http://www.unlc.org.uk/
Twitter: @saveunlibrary https://twitter.com/#!/search/saveunlibrary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/269577509754920/

And, of course, the main Croydon libraries campaign group:
blog :http://soslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/
Website: http://www.savesandersteadlibrary.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SaveCroydonLibs
https://twitter.com/#!/search/savesanderstead
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/savecroydonlibraries/

Library Consultation, Croydon-style

Croydon residents deserve better, surely, or do Croydon Council REALLY think that residents are not worthy of consultation or plainly just won't notice?

Croydon were heavily criticised for the poor consultation on six of its libraries last year.

Residents were misled. At least one MP and many councillors, including the Cabinet member responsible, Cllr Sara Bashford, openly declared that libraries were a discretionary service and non statutory, clearly overlooking the 1964 Act.  This ongoing saga is documented on Inside Croydon and Save Croydon Libraries Campaign.

Residents were put under pressure to volunteer from the outset of the consultation by eager Conservative councillors across the borough and one MP at least who couldn't wait to sign people up, feeding on the huge value residents placed on their local library. Despite this, the Summer Booktrail, only months later, faltered and struggled when Croydon attempted to run it, staffed by volunteers.

Residents were subjected to a shoddy consultation.  Libraries ran out of consultation documents on numerous occasions, the children's consultation document was released only weeks before the close of the consultation and some residents handing the consultation document out were criticised by councillors and cabinet members for trying to advertise it. The documentation itself was flawed, leading to some questions being disregarded when the results were analysed. Anyone would think Croydon, the listening council, really wasn't so keen to hear what residents had to say.

Despite this, Croydon forged ahead with their plans to outsource all 13 libraries, on the basis of the views of the users of just six of their libraries. I wonder what the users of other libraries think?  Clearly Croydon think it matters not a jot!

Given the judicial reviews, criticising local authorities handling of consultation processes (Gloucestershire and Somerset, then Brent, followed by Surrey and now Doncaster) wouldn't you think Croydon would take the time to at least tick the "has consulted" box?

It seems not! Just look at the latest turn of events...

Having withdrawn funding from Upper Norwood Joint Library, which Croydon has run with neighbouring Lambeth Council, they set about a consultation process on its future. Whilst Lambeth have consulted, have Croydon? Residents had to point out the error when Croydon announced that a consultation had started before any consultation papers were available. A mishap, perhaps. But this does not answer why Croydon, to this day, are advertising a consultation is soon to start, particularly when the consultation is soon to close. There is a Public Meeting on the evening of Thursday 16th May and completed consultation documents need to be returned by the deadline of Sunday 20th May. Will they ever learn?

The post on the council's official website:

And, just in case you missed the relevant part, here it is, in all its glory - Consultation, Croydon-style.  Does this indicate to you that the consultation has started?

See it for yourself at http://www.croydon.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/croydonlibs/unorwoodlib before someone hastily corrects it after weeks of it being in place, with not a soul at the council noticing. Croydon, the listening council,  Proud to Serve, indeed....apparently.

Will Croydon ever learn from their mistakes?  I'll leave that up to you to judge for yourself. But ask me if Croydon Library supporters and campaigners are united to #savelibraries in Croydon and I can be much more assured in my answer. We are, and we don't intend to give up!

Full details can be found here http://www.unlc.org.uk/home/urgent-action/

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.