Walkley Library

[maykay 10]

I attended a very busy public meeting last night at Walkley Library. The meeting was about the possible off loading of the library to the forum cafe bars. Their intention is to retain a small section as a library,and to convert the rest into a cafe by day and a bar / restaurant at night. Plans show extension around the back for kitchens and bin storage, while the front will be a main entrance and an outside drinking and smoking area. I live around the corner and aired my views,but i'm just interested as to how many folk would welcome this As according to the council and the Forum, it's a popular idea in Walkley.

Edited February 12, 2015 by maykay

[dutch 68]

Next generations coming will read less from physical books in libraries. These things will continue to become more digital.

There will come a day you just think about a book and some sensor reads that thought and the book is transferred on your mobile immediately.

[taxman 12]

I'm a Walkley resident who think libraries are a wonderful local resource and an important community asset. Unfortunately I am also one of those people who hasn't stepped through the doors of a library for about 20 years.

 

Mind you I'm not sure I'd use the cafe/bar/restaurant either. There are already 3 cafes on that stretch of South Rd. A new restaurant might do OK depending what it is but I'd doubt the capacity for another bar. The Freedom shut due to lack of demand as did The Crown and The Florist looks as if it is dying a death. There is a new bottle shop which only opens two nights a week and the Walkley Cottage is spitting distance away so I'd be interested to know why they think there is a demand for it.

[Kidorry 189]

I think it is just another excuse to hive off the library,by the Sheffield council, like they have done with several others which are now run by volounteers.

[Elmambo 25]

I thought it was a gift to the people of Sheffield from the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Is it the Councils to dispose of ?

[Kidorry 189]

Gleadless and Hackenthorpe were run and funded by the council but the actual building belongs to Kier,believe it or not.

[belperite 11]

I attended a very busy public meeting last night at Walkley Library.

 

What was the general feel of the meeting? For or Against?

 

..I'd doubt the capacity for another bar. The Freedom shut due to lack of demand as did The Crown and The Florist looks as if it is dying a death. There is a new bottle shop which only opens two nights a week and the Walkley Cottage is spitting distance away so I'd be interested to know why they think there is a demand for it.

 

The Florist, Crown and especially the Freedom are/were all quite old-fashioned and suffered from lack of modernisation which will be a factor in not getting the younger people in the area visiting them. The Blake on the other hand does this very well, as does the Forum group in their pubs.

[WalkleyIan 10]

What was the general feel of the meeting? For or Against?

 

 

 

The Florist, Crown and especially the Freedom are/were all quite old-fashioned and suffered from lack of modernisation which will be a factor in not getting the younger people in the area visiting them. The Blake on the other hand does this very well, as does the Forum group in their pubs.

 

Difficult to judge as the room became quite intimidatory and I know a number of people who were either broadly in favour (with some reservation to be addressed), or hadn't yet made their minds up found it hard to be heard above some very vocal anti forum bar people. In particular there was young man at the back just behind us who spoke or shouted over all the speakers making it difficult for a whole group of us, including some of the library volunteers, to follow what was going on.

 

Sue Morton from the Greens managed to raise some good points about library models in other cities such as York in her usual calm and collective manner.

 

From what I could hear if the plan goes ahead the devil will be in the detail regarding Forum Café Bars owning the building then leasing it back to the library group over 120 years. I spoke to some of the commercial property lawyers at work today and they said essentially that type of agreement was sound as long as it’s been worded watertight (unlike the roof of the library).

 

In terms of existing establishments The Freedom was always on borrowed time once the Landlord moved across to the Walkley Cottage to expand into the food side of things. The new pop up pub seems to be doing very well on the two nights it opens and in terms of noise nuisance you hardly know its there.

 

What wasn't really addressed last night was how the joint library / cafe bar space on the RHS of the building would be managed. What time would that part be put over to entirely eating / drinking. Nobody also mentioned the positives, such the library hours being extended for the community. I’ve already heard plans for evening groups to meet there (reading club, record collector group, with tone arm next door etc).

 

So with some reservations to be addressed I'm still broadly in favour of what the Forum Bars have planned , particularly as that far end of South Road is in danger of dropping of the map as the retail part of Walkley gets more concentrated in the Asda / Beeches / Gerties area.

 

Now if only we could get the same turnout at a Walkley Forum meeting ;-)

[tzijlstra 11]

Libraries need to change their business model dramatically if they are to survive, sad but true. I don't know enough detail of this proposal, but it seems to me like one of the few ways to actually save the library. Staffing it with volunteers is a patch-solution that is going to hurt long term, I have worked as a public librarian in a whole raft of different libraries (from temping to consultant) and one thing that stood out was: Libraries managed by volunteers need more guidance and support than those without. That means if done right it will cost more money rather than less.

 

I spoke to John Mothersole about issues like this years ago but it seems the political will was missing to really tackle the problem, leading to this state the libraries in Sheffield are in now.

[WalkleyIan 10]

Libraries need to change their business model dramatically if they are to survive, sad but true. I don't know enough detail of this proposal, but it seems to me like one of the few ways to actually save the library. Staffing it with volunteers is a patch-solution that is going to hurt long term, I have worked as a public librarian in a whole raft of different libraries (from temping to consultant) and one thing that stood out was: Libraries managed by volunteers need more guidance and support than those without. That means if done right it will cost more money rather than less.

 

I spoke to John Mothersole about issues like this years ago but it seems the political will was missing to really tackle the problem, leading to this state the libraries in Sheffield are in now.

 

I forgot to add, there will be a salaried library manger in the proposal as well as the growing group of volunteers. After reading your comment I'm not sure if that's enough.

[tzijlstra 11]

I forgot to add, there will be a salaried library manger in the proposal as well as the growing group of volunteers. After reading your comment I'm not sure if that's enough.

 

It will certainly help, but the manager will still need funds. One of the things we walked into a lot was that volunteers need training, as they tend to work a few hours a week you quickly add up a nice bill for said training. At least with a manager there you can rely on them to provide the training one on one (often the best way to do it with people of varying backgrounds).

 

From what you have to say, it sounds to me like the proposal is solid and worth investigating. Sure, there will be 'purists' who hate seeing a library become multi-functional and they will be vocal, but that should not stand in the way of actually saving the library.

 

With the right set-up the cross-pollination between the cafe and library could well see more users for the library, in a day and age where most local libraries see a tiny number of regulars come through the door and not a lot else, that has to be considered a massive bonus.

[bluecanary 13]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the meeting and the plans posted by the Walkley Library Facebook group aren't clearly legible. Can someone tell me how the children's library would be affected by the forum group proposal? It would be a great shame to lose this resource.

 

 

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