We need the librarians
Sheffield Council's policy of creating volunteer-run libraries has clearly failed given the huge drop in usage at these that was revealed recently.
Most people visited the libraries at least in part because of the wonderful service given by community librarians.
Now the staff have left, people have stopped visiting these libraries.
A solution in the short-term would be to trial a structure along the lines of other social enterprises, such as charity shops, with a full-time librarian backed up with a team of volunteers.
This would buy the council some time to find savings to reemploy staff.
Switching off library self-service, cancelling the library festival and axing other non-essential items such as sheffieldnewsroom.co.uk would provide funds for something Sheffield’s community’s do actually need, librarians.
M Vaughan
Stannington Road, Sheffield, S6