Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
Closure of Holborn Library
Camden Council wants to close three of its libraries: Kilburn, Belsize and Chalk Farm. Massive protest from residents, teachers, library staff and other users is currently bringing this issue into the lime-light. What is not well-known, however, is the fact that Camden has resolved to close Holborn Library in Theobalds Road, WC1, together with St Pancras Library.
It is proposed to open a new 'library' and 'learning centre' at the Kingsway College site on Gray's Inn Road. Whilst this may not worry residents near Gray's Inn Road, the rest of Bloomsbury, including Covent Garden, may have different ideas...
Below, we reproduce a letter which was sent to the Camden New Journal by the Holborn Library Users Group. They are making the public aware of the proposed closure and battle to retain this essential facility in the south of Camden for the use and benefit of the public: YOU!
Watch this space for more news and updates on their work...
Letter to the Editor
Camden New Journal
letters.cnj@cableinet.co.uk
23rd April 1999
Dear Sir
I should like to make it clear that, at the Camden Council meeting of the Special Leisure and Community Services Committee meeting at Camden Town Hall on 27th February 1999, the committee voted to close Holborn Library. In paragraph 22.2 of the Agenda, which summarised the MORI report on Camden Libraries, the committee voted, To adopt a strategy to improve the services over a five year period so as to meet Best Value criteria and that the three tier library model represents the only viable option for achieving Best Value while achieving a balance between improving opening hours and bookstock, and retaining the convenience of location.
The relevant part of the three tier model is contained in paragraph 12.4, The opening of a major library on the Kingsway site (Sidmouth Street) in three to four years time would be accompanied by the closure of the two current Town libraries at St.Pancras and Holborn.
In Appendix 5, the Best Value strategy for year four indicates the following running costs:
| Close St. Pancras | -530,000 |
| Close Holborn | -550,000 |
| Open Kingsway | +700,000 |
| giving a saving of £380,000. | |
A Feasibility Study for the Kingsway site will begin soon.
At a meeting in Holborn Library on 16th March, a Holborn Library Users Group was formed to oppose the closure of Holborn Library. We dispute the suitability of Kingsway College as a main library for the south of Camden both as to its geographical position and as to the building. We believe that the current Holborn Library building, which was purpose built and contains the Camden Law Library and the Camden Archive Centre, a national centre of excellence, is far more suitable than the Kingsway site. We should also question whether the costs of converting the Kingsway site and building a new Archive Centre could be met by selling the Holborn site.
Holborn Library is not a Community Centre but it is the centre of the Community. Camden sold the Holborn Town Hall some years ago since when it has been covered in scaffolding and bird droppings and has been of no benefit to the community whatsoever. The only beneficiaries have been the speculators who have bought and sold the site several times. If Holborn Library is closed then Holborn will become as soulless as the City of London.
Holborn Library Building used to contain a Reference Library, a Music library, a community theatre/hall and a small theatre/community meeting centre in the children's library which have been closed. At the moment only half of the building is in use as a library, some areas have been closed and the Citizens Advice Bureau and bibliographical services use others parts of the building, thus the proportion of building costs for running the library have been increased substantially. The solution to reducing the proportion of building costs is to use the building as it was designed to be used. The library bookstock has also been reduced substantially over the past fifteen years.
We believe that there is a hidden agenda to sell the Holborn site. Camden holds the freehold for the whole block that contains the library, and its position opposite to Grays Inn makes it very valuable. Certainly, in terms of bricks and mortar costs, the Mori report is correct and the committee were correct in voting to support it. However, like the cynic in Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windermeres Fan, they know the price of everything and the value of nothing. At a meeting of the Holborn library staff, Neal Hounsell, the head of Camden Library Service was asked the question, If the Kingsway Library is not built do you intend to close Holborn Library. The reply was, Yes.
We should like to invite the public to attend the next meeting of Holborn Library Users Group which is on Tuesday 1st June at 6.30 pm in Holborn library when Councillor Julian Fulbrook has kindly agreed to talk about the decision to close Camden libraries.
Yours Sincerely
B. Brook, Acting Chair
Holborn Library Users Group
Holborn Library
32-38, Theobalds Road
London WC1X 8PA
bb@stpauls.richmond.sch.uk
Please click here and print out the form to join the Holborn Library Users Group
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