Voices for the library
Concern for the future of Goring's much used resource
THE jangling bell above the door of Goring library signals another arrival.
It is just past 9am on a Saturday morning, the rain is lashing down, turning Station Road into a river, and still the people traipse through the doors, alone or with children, for the same reason that anyone walks into any library anywhere in the world – they are seeking knowledge.
The Temperance Hall, where the library has lived since 1961, is not particularly spacious, and every spare inch is filled, for the most part with books, but also photocopiers, paintings from local schoolchildren, and other standard library fodder.
It has been this way since it moved into the building 50 years ago, but having now been fixed in the crosshairs of Oxfordshire County Council as one of 43 libraries under review, its future is uncertain.
The Conservative-run council initially announced plans to close 20 of its 43 libraries, but then backtracked and said that it would keep them all open, 22 with full staffing and 21 with a combination of staff and volunteers, in the hope that a ‘Big Society' push would encourage people to come forward.
Frances Parkes is a member of Goring Gap book club – which has members from Goring, Streatley, Aldworth and Stichens Green – and she believes that the council's decision to put Goring library in a group that could see volunteers take over from professional staff over the next three years will almost certainly result in its ultimate demise.
She says: “Great – you might think. Involve the local community and the library stays open. But the fact is that, however well intentioned people are, they will not commit to a regular slot and this will, in reality, lead to the closure of the library.”
Last year Newbury library, which serves an entire town and beyond and has a catchment area far exceeding that of Goring in terms of potential helpers, could not open on Sundays because not enough people offered to volunteer, despite a series of pleas by West Berkshire Council.
Oxfordshire County Council's review placed the libraries into categories based on a what it calls a “needs-analysis”, calculations around where people live, work, study and shop in Oxfordshire.
However, Mrs Parkes has pointed out that library usage statistics have not been taken into account as part of the sums, surely a critical factor in determining the worth of the facility.
“Goring ranked 17th out of 36 county libraries,” she said.
“If that criterion had been used, Goring would have made it into the third, not fifth (bottom), group of libraries, which would mean staffing would be two-thirds professional and one-third volunteer, rather than the other way round.”
Despite that, as another member of the book club, Karen Kibble, from Streatley, points out, the worth of a library is unquantifiable in real terms, because it's not merely as simple as counting the number of books checked out.
She said that her two sons had used the library from their childhood right through to their university days, 20 years of using the facility in a variety of ways, from reading to checking references.
“The service has been a support to my whole family. There is a whole other social aspect too. People use it for pleasure; it's not always about getting books out. It's much more important than that. People go there as social groups. Old people use it. People just go along to find things out.”
Oxfordshire County Council went on the back foot when questioned over its plans for Goring library.
It refused to discuss the future of the facility, and a question put to the leader of the council, Keith Mitchell, as to whether this was merely a face-saving exercise before the library was ultimately closed, went unanswered.
A spokesman for the council, Paul Smith, said: “This council and all councils are being required to make big savings and it is not possible to achieve those savings without difficult decisions.
He said that library-usage statistics were ignored because they were“committed to basing our library provision on the basis of the needs of the people living in Oxfordshire.
“If people would like to provide feedback to the consultation that Goring should be given special consideration due to specific local circumstances then they are welcome to make that case.
“The cornerstone of the proposal to be put forward is that the council will guarantee that every single one of the 43 libraries will continue to receive support in the form of free access to a suitable building, to book stock, to the library stock management system and to the expertise of county council- employed library staff.
“No library would be completely volunteer staffed. No final decisions have been taken.
“Communities would have three years to work towards this outcome so there is time for the council to support and work with them.”
Goring was once seen to be something of a “sleepy hollow”, according to Henry W Taunt's Map and Guide to the Thames 1894.
However, supporter group The Friends of Goring Library, the users of Goring Gap book club and many local parents have promised that there will be nothing sleepy about their efforts to keep this vital facility open and professionally staffed.
