Councillors defend decision to back Selkirk library merger
TWO of Selkirkshire’s three elected members on Scottish Borders Council (SBC) have hit back at Gordon Edgar’s accusation, reported on page one, that they have “let Selkirk down” over the merger, agreed yesterday, of the library and contact centre.
Councillor Kenneth Gunn (SNP) told us: “I don’t normally respond to Mr Edgar’s accusations, but as far as the meeting in the library last Tuesday is concerned, I gather he and a few mates organised it, but did not invite any councillors: a fact Ian Brown, SBC’s cultural services manager, thought odd. Half the folk who did attend were not even members of the library.
“I sent my apologies to Monday’s meeting of the community council because I was attending a board meeting of the Scottish Borders Housing Association, the town’s biggest employer, but I note Mr Edgar was not present either.
“If he [Mr Edgar] had bothered to read the report we approved, he would note the authors were aware there are problems in moving the library and have conceded there will be further extensive consultation over progressing the integration in Selkirk.
“If you look at what is happening in other places, especially England where many public libraries are being closed to save money, SBC and myself are desperately trying to find ways to maintain and extend library services and we must look at how to improve usage further. That has to be achieved by using the best staff in the best roles.
“It is a fallacy to claim there will be a two-tier service and the report makes it clear all libraries, including Galashiels, Hawick and Peebles, will also be subjected to scrutiny over coming months.”
Councillor Carolyn Riddell-Carre (Con) said she supported yesterday’s decision because, unlike councils elsewhere, SBC was not proposing to close or charge for any of its libraries.
“I think moving the library to the centre of Selkirk will make it much more usable and should help save it,” she told us. “The Selkirk library is one of the least used in the Borders and the only reason I can think for that is because it is in an extremely inconvenient building.
“You can’t park nearby and it’s not on the way to anywhere except the sheriff court. I am sure that if the library moved to a more convenient location far more people would use it. It’ll be in a much more convenient position – opposite one supermarket [Sainsbury’s] and over the road from another [the Co-op].
“By sharing a building with the council’s contact centre, it will mean that the council doesn’t have to pay for the upkeep of two buildings and people who attend the contact centre may be encouraged to pick up a book. There are still matters to consult upon, but this is good news for Selkirk because it’s good news for the library.”
Councillor Vicky Davidson (Lib Dem), however, was a notable dissenter yesterday.
“I have made it clear I don’t like the proposals,” she said. “I don’t think a solution that works for other towns where there is space in one building to integrate the two services should be imposed on Selkirk where neither building lends itself to this.
“Although the usage is lower than almost all other libraries and a review of opening hours unavoidable in the current climate, I have tried to protect the hours until we could look at ways to increase footfall.”
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Weather for Selkirk
Thursday 24 May 2012
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