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10 02 2009

When will Andy Burnham say what he thinks?

Posted by: Alan Gibbons in Uncategorized

 

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Burnham stalls on Wirral

10.02.09 Benedicte Page

Culture secretary Andy Burnham will keep the Wirral library closures “under consideration” , a spokesperson at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said today (10th February). Wirral council decided last night to press ahead with the planned closures, despite widespread opposition and a campaign supported by Wirral residents, authors and the librarian body CILIP to get Burnham to
intervene.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State will keep this matter under consideration and will watch closely for the outcomes of the decisions taken and the challenges to those decisions.”

Alan Gibbons, who has led the group of authors opposing the Wirral cuts, issued a statement on the council’s decision, saying: “This is a very grim day for everyone who lives on the Wirral but also everyone who believes in the power of books to excite, nurture, nourish and inspire.”

He described the cuts as “a calculated act of cultural vandalism” and “wretched philistinism”, and reiterated his call for people to write to Burnham.

Benedicte Page

Alan Gibbons adds:

“Andy Burnham must stop prevaricating. It is his responsibility as Minister to reign in rogue councils who fail to provide a comprehensive and efficient service. What does it take for the Government to shoulder its responsibilities and speak out? Half of Wirral’s libraries will be closed within three months and none of the promised ’super libraries’ are in place. Everyone wants to know if he is going to stand by his views at the recent libraries conference that libraries are central. If the Wirral cuts go ahead, doesn’t this just become a load of hot air?”

“Does Andy stand by the following statement from the Public Library Authorities Conference in Liverpool in October 2008 or not? If he does he must act over the Wirral situation.”

“This is what Andy Burnham said:

‘I want to begin, however, by reaffirming my commitment to the provision of a comprehensive library service.

This for me is absolutely non-negotiable.

The statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 gives my department a unique and special relationship to public libraries we do not have for other cultural sectors, and I take it very seriously.’

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “When will Andy Burnham say what he thinks?”

  1. Lynne says:
    February 10th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    I am so saddened by this. I had hoped the weight behind such a successful campaign would bear fruit but sadly the Council are rotten to the core. The lack of Burnham backing in reality proves to me that this Government is determined more than ever to ensure it retains power through dependence on them for inceome and by ensuring the majority population do not have access to information resources or enlightening fiction in order to gain insight to alternate lifestyles and knowledge to challenge injustices. This makes the Conference ever more important. I am so sorry Wirral.

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