Question Please can you tell me when the new contractor is next due to review library hours at Hanwell Library following its recent re-opening? Answer Any changes to opening hours would have to be agreed by Ealing Council as it will still be responsible for the strategic direction of the service. There are no current […]

Question Please can you tell me when Wi-Fi will be installed in Hanwell Library? Answer The propose date for the completed installation of WI FI across all libraries is November 2013.

As you may be aware, following a great deal of public pressure across the borough, Ealing Council decided to reverse its plans to close Hanwell and three other libraries. The Ealing Lib Dem council group showed in our alternative budget proposals that if there was the political will, money could be found not only to save the libraries but also to […]

Question Would the Portfolio holder please outline the details of the consultation over the refurbishment of Hanwell library – in particular, would he provide information on the membership of the focus groups, the numbers of residents involved and which organisations they will represent? Will the focus groups also be able to contribute to ideas on […]

Question Will the Portfolio holder please give a detailed breakdown of how the funds from the sale of the “Birth of Eve” painting will be spent on the Library service? Answer Activity Initial Estimates New Computers 20 @ approx £1,500 each  £30k WiFi in all libraries and community centres £90k Upgrade and replacement of out […]

Question What criteria will be used to decide the reduction in opening hours at libraries around the borough? Answer Officers have reviewed the: Volume of transactions in the first hour of opening; Volume of transactions after 7:00pm; A snapshot of visitor and users on the hour every hour which shows the volume of people entering […]

This week I welcomed the announcement at Tuesday’s Council meeting that Ealing Council is no longer planning to close four threatened libraries in the borough. Obviously, whilst it is disappointing that the mobile library will be phased out, I am pleased that the council no longer plans to close the libraries at Hanwell, Northfields, Perivale and Northolt Leisure […]

Here is the text of my speech at the Ealing Council meeting in June following the council’s announcement that Hanwell and other public libraries would not be closed. On behalf of the Liberal Democrat council group, I would like to thank the Portfolio holder Cllr Dheer for his announcement today that the libraries at Hanwell, […]

Question Please can the Portfolio Holder outline what consultation the Council has had with the trade unions in relation to the proposal to use volunteers to run libraries instead of professional librarians? Answer All staff have been briefed on the consultation and its contents, including the proposal to use Volunteers in the libraries. Senior managers […]

Here is a copy of the text of my speech below to the April 2011 council meeting on the future of public libraries in Ealing:- Mr Mayor, as the ward councillor for Elthorne where Hanwell Library is situated, I rise to second the Lib Dem amendment to this motion. While we accept that the council needs to […]