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Council criticised for cutting £30,000 from library books fund
Campaigners have criticised Bristol City Council for cutting £30,000 from its library books fund.
The money, which is just over five per cent of the £560,000 reading materials annual budget, is being redirected to help pay for a new regeneration service.
Marvin Rees told a cabinet meeting that the new team would work across the council coordinating with communities, developers and other stakeholders to “build the physical, social and community infrastructure needed” to support the city’s growing population.
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But a report to members said it would have to be paid for by transferring resources from other parts of the growth and regeneration directorate, including leaving some long-term vacancies unfilled and taking £30,000 from library books money.
Deputy mayor Asher Craig insisted, however, that the amount was a “drop in the ocean” and would “not break any banks”.
Merche Clark, a Lib Dem candidate for Clifton Down at May’s local elections, said the Friends of Redland Library had asked for the cuts to be withdrawn.
She said: “Libraries should be at the core of communities as they offer the possibility for personal transformation and growth. They are personal regeneration hubs.
“It is paramount that existing libraries can continue to offer these opportunities to their communities.”
Like libraries across Bristol, Redland Library on Whiteladies Road still has reduced opening hours – photo: Ellie Pipe
Lockleaze Green Party councillor, David Wilcox, told the meeting: “The creation of the regeneration service is taking £242,000 from the cultural services budget, and the decision pathway for the extension of the cultural investment programme is asking for a budget increase of £636,000.
“Isn’t this robbing Peter to pay Paul?”
Rees replied: “No, because we are delivering on the city’s culture in many ways. Culture isn’t just about venues in the middle of the city, culture is about what it’s like to live in a place.
“If we fail to deliver as a city, someone without a home is not really participating in the city’s culture, they won’t have the financial or emotional space to do so, so we are delivering for the whole city.
“And we have to make sure that by delivering, building homes for people in the right way and the right places, it means people can participate in an inclusive city culture.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Bristol Uni’s new library finally granted planning permission
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