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Fifty-eight full-time equivalent jobs are set to go at Hampshire library service, amid further cuts and protests about threats to library services.
The job losses come in a bid to reduce the annual running costs of Hampshire's service by £1.5m and follow a consultation with staff and unions over the planned restructure. However, no libraries will be closed, and opening hours will be increased in some libraries so that they no longer close at lunchtimes. The latest Discovery Centre, in Basingstoke, will open on 30th November.
Hampshire county council's executive member for culture and recreation Margaret Snaith-Tempia said the proposed restructure does not affect "many" front line staff who deal with the public on a day to day basis, and efficient new working practices plus the introduction of self service terminals would free staff up "to help with customer enquiries and continue running children’s activities, reading groups and assist people using computers.
She added: “Restructuring a service as big as this needs to be approached as a series of phases. This fundamental restructure will make the service sustainable without using money that should be allocated for buying books."
Meanwhile, 34 members of staff in Harrow's library service are to lose their jobs following a restructure caused in part by the introduction of self-service machines, according to a report in the">www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2010/10/29/m... Harrow Observer. Eleven libraries will be affected by the job losses.
Councillor Rekha Shah (Labour), Harrow Council's portfolio holder for community and cultural services, told the newspaper: "We care passionately about libraries in Harrow and that is why we are fighting to keep them open by introducing self service technology. We want to protect them but government cuts mean that we have to be realistic, with less money in the pot to provide the services our residents need."
Furthermore, Oldham's libraries are to have a 25% funding cut over the next five years, according to a">http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/48605/n... report in the Oldham Chronicle.
Relocating libraries and the increased use of volunteers are both elements in the plan to reshape the service, with a council report stating: “A very clear starting point for the discussions is that the service is much more than books and buildings — these are simply tools of the trade.”
Over 200 people are reported to have set off from Crofton Park library in Lewisham to march to Lewisham Town Hall on Saturday (30th October) to protest over the proposed closure of five Lewisham libraries.