Pensby Library

Oh bummer. And lots of other really naughty words. When I wrote yesterday that I was keeping books in reserve in case the library closed down I didn’t think it was a serious option for the future.

Jo promptly told me she’d heard the news that the Council had lost so much money that they were closing lots of facilities – including Pensby Library. This means the two community facilities in Pensby (not counting the churches) are seriously threatened as the doctor’s surgery is also closing down.

I have no doubt both of them are doing this because of finances. I don’t know if the Doctor’s had any money in Iceland but the Council did and it’s melted away like a glacier. Both facilities are using the excuse that they are improving services for their customers by having fewer, bigger buildings. This is a child-friendly blog so I shouldn’t say ‘Bollocks’. I’ll say ‘What a load of tommy-rot’ instead.

Firstly, the people who are prime users of both library and doctors services do not drive and/ or are unable to drive. As a result the future will involve a bus trip (an expensive bus trip for those without bus passes). No longer will I be greeted by name in the library – the size will mean staff on the counter will no longer recognise their regular customers or know their tastes.

The book stock at Pensby is good. Rarely have I had to order a book but when I have it has arrived very quickly. What more could I want from my library – how can it be ‘improved’? For computer users without a home computer the number of computers at Pensby is fine – anyone who wanted to could access their e-mails every day. But if it goes to Heswall how would someone like me (who only gets to Heswall seven or eight times a year) use the computers?

Wirral are proposing to reduce their number of libraries from 23 to 11. Andrew Carnegie would turn in his grave at this return to mid-Victorian values on the part of local Council members. A century and a half of progress is going down the drain. All it needs now is for our little supermarket to close and the area will die completely.