Library in danger?

There are alarming reports in the Surrey Comet and elsewhere that there is some kind of threat to the future of Surbiton Library. Most worrying is the seeming unwillingness of prominent Administration members like Cllr. Liz Green of St. Marks Ward, to deny that closure is a possibility. This is coupled with the all too characteristic silence of the Lib Dem councillors for Berrylands and Surbiton Hill.

A few years ago there was some talk of relocation of the facility into a new ‘community hub’ structure as part of the hospital site redevelopment, along the lines whereby the Chessington Library forms part of the Hook Centre. However that all seemed to bite the dust at least two years ago.

All I can say is that year in, year out, when I was representing the ward, Surbiton Library was just about the best performing such facility in the Borough in terms of footfall and lending. With colleagues I often held surgeries in the adjacent small hall on Saturday mornings and these produced some of the most fruitful meetings with residents, not only from Surbiton Hill, who came to meet us.

If there is a threat to the Library it should be resisted and the Administration should be pressed to make its plans clear now.