Hope for Nottingham libraries under threat of closure

Campaigners have claimed victory in a battle to save three libraries under threat of closure in Nottingham. 

The group, Save Nottingham Libraries, said Labour councillors, who hold a majority on Nottingham City Council, have vowed to save the Basford, Aspley and Radford-Lenton libraries.  

A firm decision is still to be made by the city council’s executive board but campaigners who have been fighting to keep the libraries said the support of Labour was enough to declare victory this week. The group will shortly meet to discuss what next, and how best they can encourage support for libraries in the future. 

In February the council announced it was consulting on three of the oldest branch libraries in the city. Save Nottingham Libraries was quickly set up to save them, involving demonstrations, read-ins, book launches in the threatened libraries, film shows, storytelling sessions, a “nature forage” around one of the libraries, and door-to-door leafleting in the areas, as well as visits to schools, churches and mosques. 

The campaign took advantage of the city being a Unesco City of Literature and being the home of the first dedicated children’s public lending library in the UK and insisted that the libraries remain professionally staffed, rather than become community-run libraries. 

Five Leaves Bookshop supported the campaign, organising a public letter signed by more than 100 local writers and industry professionals, which was followed by 1,000 free pamphlets given away with articles and poems by local writers about libraries, jointly published and funded by Five Leaves and the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Five Leaves also organised a “Lesbians and Gays Support the Libraries” day, which included a speaker from the former Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners group. 

Ross Bradshaw from Five Leaves Bookshop said: “Save Nottingham Libraries was a model campaign, focused on the traditions of the libraries under threat, their current users and their potential in the future. It was exciting to see people taking the initiative in organising events to promote library use not just to defend them. Many if not most of the campaigners are customers of ours. We also want to give credit to local Labour councillors who voted with their conscience to keep the libraries open despite the financial pressures on the local authorities.”  

He added: “There is no conflict between bookshops and libraries. Far from it – many if not most of those involved in the campaign are both library users and customers of ours. We are proud of what they achieved.”