Historian from Ixworth, near Bury St Edmunds, backs campaign against Suffolk County Council taking back control of a library service

A historian is backing the campaign against a council taking back control of a library service

Sue Spiller, Ixworth History Recorder, is urging people to sign the petition, called ‘Stop Suffolk County Council wrecking our fabulous local libraries’ created by Lesley Dolphin, former presenter at BBC Suffolk.

The petition, which now has 21,000 signatures, calls for the county council to reconsider its proposal to remove the contract from Suffolk Libraries charity which has run the service since August 2012, amid fears it will cost tax payers over £1 million more and put jobs at risk.

Suffolk County Council meanwhile has hit back with a YouTube video asking people not to sign the petition: restating that all 45 libraries will stay open, all library opening hours will remain the same, all front-line staff will ‘return to the council’s care’, and it will continue to invest more in a service ‘residents can be rightly proud of’.

Sue Spiller, who is currently completing a project on the history of the library service in West Suffolk, said: “Twelve years ago, Suffolk County Council chose not to run the service for financial reasons, and awarded the contract to Suffolk Libraries, an independent charity, which has raised thousands of pounds each year to cover the shortfall of its budget from the county council.

“Suffolk Libraries has not only kept open all 44 libraries but has opened a new one and delivered a multitude of initiatives supporting health and wellbeing, many of which are not funded by Suffolk County Council.

“Our county’s libraries are recognised as pioneers for change and are now regarded as a leading example of how to run a library service. Please speak out now if you want our libraries to continue to be run by an organisation that has libraries at its heart and allows each library to respond to and meet the needs of its community.”

Suffolk County Council announced on Monday it intended to take control of the library service. Cllr Philip Faircloth-Mutton, the lead for environment, communities and equality, said bringing libraries in-house was “the right thing to do”.

The county council said part of its reasoning behind taking over the service was due to 'serious concerns' about the viability of the charity, claiming Suffolk Libraries spent a third of its annual bill on its head office, including senior managers

But Suffolk Libraries stated all the management costs were paid either through external funding or money generated by the charity, stating these were less than five per cent.

The county council discuss the service at its cabinet meeting on March 18.