More than 1,400 people have signed a petition to try to protect Rottingdean library from closure.
It was started because Brighton and Hove City Council is conducting a “needs and use” analysis to decide whether to close three community libraries to save money.
The proposal – to close three community libraries – could save £250,000 over two years according to the council’s budget papers for the financial year that starts tomorrow. The council currently spends £3.7 million a year on the library service.
The petition was started by Sarah Craven-Antill whose mother-in-law Sue Antill campaigned to keep the children’s library open 35 to 40 years ago.
Mrs Craven-Antill, 35, is in the library up to four times a week with her two young children and sees families and older people using it daily.
One of her worries is that councillors appear to have been told that the refurbished Saltdean Lido library has been receiving more visitors than before the coronavirus pandemic.
But for families with small children and for older people with mobility issues, it’s easier to reach Rottingdean Library at The Grange, in The Green, than taking a hilly mile-long walk to the lido.
She said: “My worry is our location as we’re very close to Saltdean which has had quite a big investment.
“The new library is viable whereas my concern is this puts Rottingdean library in a vulnerable position. It’s an older building.”
Retired reading champion Nicky Lloyd Owen, who is also the co-ordinator of the library’s Thursday book group, is encouraging people to discover all the new books and audio at the library.
Currently, the library is open two days a week, when it used to be three, which she described as a “creep” on the service.
Mrs Lloyd Owen said: “It is tricky. Rottingdean can be perceived as being alright. But Rottingdean is changing.
“It used to be more retired. There are two schools, two nurseries and an ageing population but there are so many families moving in.
“There are lots of people coming through the village and the library is a natural place to meet people.”
Mrs Lloyd Owen, who is also a volunteer at The Grange, is encouraging heritage champions to get involved and plans to attend Rottingdean Parish Council to raise the library issue.
The petition said that losing the library would put The Grange at risk including the gallery, tea room and Gertrude’s – an arts and crafts pop up.
It’s a shame former Rottingdean resident Rudyard Kipling is no longer alive. He’d be horrified and spearheading the campaign to save his local Library. This is a shocking attack on literacy, culture and community combined. All from a Labour council which promised no cuts so were voted in on false premises.
More important to use public money to bail out the scandalous i360 51million pound debt, than stick to council statutory goods and services provision of which Libraries are one.
New Labour promised to keep libraries open. Never trust new Labour
If you look at the cost of running the libraries, out of a proposed budget of £972,000,000 the cost is proposed at £3,700,000 which works out at approximately 0.38% on BHCC’s total spend for 2025 – 2026. This represents excellent value. The population of Brighton is approximately 276,000. This means that libraries cost, on average, just under £14 per person, per annum.
My email was forwarded to the relevant councillor, Cllr Jackie O’Quinn, so far I have heard nothing although one of my three local councillors emailed me back so that means if you contact the council to voice your opposition you have only a 1 in 4 chance of even being acknowledged.
Also why not use some of the monies available from The Fairness Fund that from donations, partnerships with energy companies and last year’s council budget surplus.
I’d suggest we be a little cautious about the framing of “£14 per person” based on the entire Brighton & Hove population. While it’s a helpful way to show relative cost, it implies that every resident uses the service equally, which isn’t quite the case. In reality, direct library usage tends to reflect certain groups more than others, like children, older adults, students, job seekers, and those without home internet. Some relevant research puts the number at about 30%, putting it around £45 per person.
Still, even with the adjustment, excellent value for money.
I bet the people who signed the petition have never stepped foot in a Library in the last 20 years