The Bookseller.com

7th October 2008

MLA could vanish under Tories

23.05.08 Benedicte Page

A Conservative government would review whether the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council should continue its role in the library sector, according to Shadow Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey, and he would be the cheerleader for libraries in Whitehall.

Vaizey held a consultative seminar on libraries with heads of library services, adult education professionals, the private sector and representatives of professional bodies earlier this month, as the Tories firm up their policies in advance of the next general election.

He was speaking to The Bookseller, as this week's Guardian/ICM poll put Labour 14 points behind the Conservatives, lower than at any time since 1987, with Vaizey himself commenting: "I hope to be in government in a year or two."

The shadow minister said he would not spread negativity about the library sector by criticising its performance under the Labour government, but said there had been an "enormous lack of leadership" shown by central government and the MLA.

He added: "We feel our note on libraries, which came out of a three-hour round table, was as effective as the MLA's Action Plan. There's certainly a question mark over whether the MLA continues to have a library role." Vaizey also mooted the possibility of moving libraries from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport to the Department of Children, Schools & Families, though he said the issue was "not immediately up for review".

Vaizey described libraries as a fantastic resource sitting at the heart of their communities, but "ghettoised because people think they are only about books". The "first big win" for the Conservatives would be to put libraries at the heart of what local authorities are doing: "The chief librarian should be seen as a senior executive in the local authority, able to deliver a range of services. A good minister would ensure that health, education and communities all had a keen awareness of what library services can do."

New money would not be on offer, however: "No opposition is in a position to offer additional re-sources, but you have to question if additional resources are the problem," said Vaizey. "Hillingdon is one of many good examples—[Hillingdon councillor] Henry Higgins is very enthusiastic and has massively increased library attendance in the first library he worked on [through savings rather than extra funding]."

Vaizey said that book stock was not the only way to measure whether libraries are healthy. "Decline in book stock is an issue we have to be very aware of, but it's not the issue that defines a library. Significant decline, yes, that's a concern. But if you buy 30,000 books one year and 25,000 the next, it doesn't mean the library service is being run down. In all the libraries I have visited, the book has still been centre stage. If you go into an Ideas Store at Tower Hamlets—it's controversial, because they've got rid of the word 'library'—the first thing you see are books."

Microsoft was present at the recent library seminar. Vaizey wants libraries to emulate the private sector in its technological innovation, offering searchable databases, pre-ordering of books, home delivery and print-on-demand services, and he sees partnership with the private sector as the way forward.

With Tory emphasis on local issues and local decision-making, it would be wrong for a minister to say whether a local authority should close individual libraries or not, Vaizey said, but he was opposed to library closures on his home turf of Didcot and Wantage: "If I looked at my own constituency I wouldn't want to see any close—each is in their own town or village and serves a large local community. Hillingdon has 17 in a small borough and is planning to keep them all open."

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