I am new to the forum but have been learning a lot about Newham politics lately
and am glad to find a place to discuss it.
For now, I wanted to call to everyone's attention the campaign by parents in
Stratford to save the unique children's library in the Stratford Library which
is slated to be taken away. Hundreds of signatures have been gathered in the
effort by parents to protect this space; there are links below if you are
interested in signing or getting involved.
Newham is closing the Stratford Library for six months from 1 Oct in order to
move the Local Service Centre (LSC) from over the road into the library
facility. When the library re-opens, the self-contained spacious childen's
library is going to be replaced with a drastically smaller children's section
that will be merged with the rest of the library (a bit like what is at the
Forest Gate library now).
This whole process is being done very quietly. There has been no public
consultation over the future of the library and library users (or even local
councillors) have not been informed what the plans are for their library. In
fact, the six-month closure of the library was only announced on Friday 16
Sept, just 2 weeks before works are due to begin, and the plans are still
undisclosed. Parents only discovered the plan from a staff leak, but senior
library staff have confirmed that the plans are as I describe above.
Many of you may remember that the existing library opened in 2000 -- after a
great deal of public consultation -- with a design that put children's needs at
the fore. With its levels of deprivation, very young population, and struggle
with issues of literacy Newham needs a space like this and every child and
parent we speak to loves the children's library as it is. Every day our
daughter begs us to take her there and we spend several hours with her there
each week where she can learn and read and explore in a safe environment, on
her own and with other kids. This is all being wiped away without any public
notice or input.
The new children's section will be over-crowded and less secure than the
dedicated children's library we have now. It will drive parents and kids away
and won't be able to support the heavy use it enjoys now from the borough's
kids and families.
This is all the mayor's policy, councillors are not even informed about what's
going on. The mayor calls it "investment" and "refurbishment" but this is
really a cut to a valuable children's community area. We were promised
investment and regeneration with the Olympics and Westfield but instead they
are taking away from our kids. This is going to make a negative impact on a lot
of local families.
Most signatures are on paper but there is an online petition at:
http://www.tinyurl.com/StratfordKidsPet
Please sign if you can.
Parents have also set up a website to share info and resources about this
issue: http://www.tinyurl.com/StratfordKids
You can even download a petition and collect signatures from there.
Thanks a lot, looking forward to hearing any thoughts about this or ideas for
how to help the campaign.
Greg
Stratford