Like many others, I attended a meeting at Rock Road Library this evening put on by the Friends of Rock Road Library  to discuss ways of keeping it open. I didn’t count the people present, but estimate there must have been over 100, with standing room only even before the meeting kicked off. This fantastic show of public support goes some way towards explaining why so many hits on my site this week have been using keywords like ‘library’ and ‘cuts’! A big thank you to the Friends for arranging the meeting, as well as to all the groups that have helped publicise it so well, especially the Morley children who made posters.

We heard from Jane Elliott, the Chair of the Friends, Christine May from the Library Serice, and county councillors Geoff Heathcock (Lib Dem, Queen Edith’s) and Tariq Sadiq (Labour, Coleridge).

The library service in Cambridgeshire has a gargantuan savings target set by the Tory administration, and Rock Road Library is on the County Council’s hit list for infrastructure changes. These could include self-service machines for issues and returns, more volunteers (for children’s stories and computer support … and maybe more?), and community management boards. We heard about how the Council is looking into sharing buildings with other public service, and that there are already ten community-run libraries in Cambridgeshire.

Rock Road Library, founded 75 years ago, is one of the best used in the county, but we are on the list for change because we are a relatively well off area and not far from other libraries. However, half the library users are young children and pensioners – acknowledged as less able to travel on their own. Costs come to just over £100,000 a year (2009/10).

Despite the big dark cloud looming over this vital community facility, the meeting was commendably calm and constructive, although person after person questioned the need for such massive cuts, as well as the feasibility of volunteers being able to plug the gap in funding.

One big problem is the democratic gap – Cambridgeshire County Council is run by the Conservatives, who have no councillors representing any part of the city of Cambridge. The councillors for Queen Edith’s are already convinced of the library’s value to the community. It was suggested that people should express their concerns by writing to the Conservative MP for the area, Andrew Lansley, as well as to Sir Peter Brown, the county councillor with portfolio responsibility for Cambridgeshire libraries. Those with contacts in the villages of Cambridgeshire that do still have Tory councillors could also call on them to write to those councillors about the library service, particularly those villages that have libraries.

Rock Road is a great library, with a range of events for all ages. The Friends put on talks and events such as books sales and wine-tastings, while the library itself has an excellent programme of children’s events. The next one is this Saturday, a Chinese New Year celebration of the Year of the Rabbit – stories and crafts from 10.30 till noon. I’m told red is the lucky colour – well, I’ll try anything as I’m sure we could all do with some luck!

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