Talks are under way to try to prevent the proposed closure of Rottingdean Library, a senior councillor said.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said that it was the library that he used to visit as a child.
Regardless of this, Councillor Taylor said, the decision about the library’s future would be taken collectively by the council’s cabinet at a meeting next month.
But he offered a glimmer of hope as he and his colleagues take stock of the feedback from a 12-week public consultation which ran from Friday 18 July to Friday 10 October.
Rottingdean Library was one of three where closure was proposed. The others were Hollingbury Library, at Old Boat Corner, and Westdene Library, next to Westdene Primary School.
The council also proposed cutting the opening hours at the Jubilee Library, in Brighton, and the Carnegie Library, in Hove, at times when it said the fewest people use them.
The Jubilee Library could close two hours earlier on Monday evenings and three hours earlier on Sunday afternoons while the Carnegie Library could close two earlier on Wednesday evenings and three hours earlier on Saturday afternoons.
Of the three libraries where closure is proposed, Rottingdean is the busiest. The library is housed in The Grange, a grade II listed building. The council owns the freehold.
The building also houses Rottingdean’s museum and art gallery and the tea garden – and Councillor Taylor spoke fondly of the cakes there as he did of his childhood visits to the library.
He went to primary school at St Margaret’s, a about a hundred yards up the lane from The Grange.
He said that the council was keen to explore any alternative ways to keep the library open – and the same applied to the libraries in Hollingbury and Westdene.
A viable future could involve transferring the library to a community group or voluntary sector organisation. It could involve setting up a community interest company (CIC) or a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO).
Rottingdean Heritage, which looks after the museum and art gallery as well as the windmill, is a CIO.
Any future could be helped by crowdfunding – a method employed by the campaigns to save the Saltdean Lido and the Madeira Terraces.
Councillor Taylor said: “I don’t think we should proceed with the closure at Rottingdean. I think there’s a better decision that we could come to that isn’t an outright closure.
“I think there’s a way to maintain the vitally important facilities at The Grange. They are a hub of the village.”
The library running costs are about £25,000 a year, and the building as a whole costs about £90,000.
And, since the consultation started in July, Councillor Taylor has become more optimistic that a way forward can be found.
He said: “I think we should give ourselves more time and work with Rottingdean Parish Council.”
Councillor Taylor leads on finance for the council and said that his colleague Councillor Alan Robins was responsible for libraries. The final decision, though, would be made collectively by the council’s cabinet.
The proposals and possible alternatives are due to be discussed by the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday 10 November.
NOTE This report has been amended. It originally said that the running costs of the library were about £90,000 a year. It has been changed to reflect the costs of running the library separately to the cost of running the building as a whole.
It is dismal that libraries should only open during their “busiest” times. Any enterprise realises that its popularity depends upon the aggregate figures. Disappoint some people and its overall popularity declines.
To my chagrin, i gave a valuable part of my life in trying to make such points about Hove’s Carnegie Library and its book stock but to scant avail.
Crowdfunding can’t help with the closures – because of some rules the council cannot accept donations to fund the basic running of the library.
Ah but a CIO can.So put the library under the umbrella of what is already charitable and then crowdfund. Hopefully this is what will happen so that we all have access to our library services.
It’s an idea I mentioned quite early on, so I’m absolutely agreed with you David, we’ve got a city full of successful charities and and CICs, and their recourse to funding is much more varied. They can also arguably run these buildings at a much lower cost with volunteering and the like.
The question needs to be asked why Labour loathe and undermine Libraries at every turn. Former Labour council leader Warren Morgan was no different when he tried to close Hove’s Carnegie Library by exaggerating the cost of roof repairs to justify this public theft. £25k is an absolute pittance which would be saved by closing Rottingdean Library compared to what they waste in so many other areas.
Who agreed Council Leader Sankey could appoint a 2nd Deputy for example? Scrapping this role alone would save £31,777.
Agree – and why are they not also looking at saving Westdene and Hollingbury libraries and also stop the proposal to reduce opening hours at others, why is Jacob Taylor just talking about Rottingdean.
It was a few months ago the council spent nearly £40,000 to evict a homeless person camping on Madeira Terrace. Jacob Taylor can try and pretend that they are not imposing cuts, but they are just continuing Tory austerity from what I can see and going along with the cuts agenda imposed by central Government.
Why has cllr Taylor stepped in when cllr Robins has previously spoken on this aspect of his portfolio?
Why do you ask, is this a problem?
Jacob is rolling the full costs of the Grange into the Library cost but over half the building is leased till 2030 so savings are 22k not 90k
When you look at the vast council budget, it’s ridiculous penny-pinching to close these libraries. They are vital community assets. I’m not sure what Councillor Jacob Taylor’s agenda is here, but he certainly seems to enjoy a photo opportunity.
Love this PR move from Cllr Taylor – he’s the hero our libraries need!
But the whole thing feels a little… odd.
The original reason for closing the library was to save money and help balance the council’s budget. Budget balancing falls under Cllr Jacob Taylor’s remit as Cabinet Member for Finance and Regeneration.
The libraries consultation, meanwhile, was led by Cllr Alan Robbins, as Cabinet Member for Sports, Recreation & Libraries. All logical so far.
But now the consultation’s over, it’s not Cllr Robbins but Cllr Jacob Taylor popping up for a photo op outside Rottingdean Library – teasing that it might be saved and reminiscing about eating cake there once.
It seems pretty clear the decision’s already been made to keep this library open – Cllr Taylor probably wouldn’t go to the trouble of organising a photoshoot outside a library he plans to close.
It is interesting to note that Cllr Taylor chose to have his photo taken outside Rottingdean library – and not Hollingbury or Westdene libraries, which the council were also proposing to close.
Perhaps I’m being too cynical – maybe he just didn’t eat cake at those ones.