Minutes of the meeting of the Friends of Buckfastleigh Library Thursday 9th October 2014
Present: Angela, Hilary, Anne, Joe C, Wendy R (representing the WI), Cllr. Janet Jones, Peter K, John S, Pam M.
Apologies. Diana, Erin, Joanna W.
1. Minutes of the last meeting were read and agreed.
2. Treasurers report. Erin was not able to attend the meeting but there is thought to be at least £900 in our funds. Anne to sort out problem with the cheque to Clockworth Moth for summer activities.
3. Anne and Angela reported on the Report entitled ‘Future Direction of the Library Service’ which had been accepted by Devon County Cabinet the previous day. It included a report on the recent Consultation Process and the new set of proposals. Angela had been to a staff meeting where implications for staff had been discussed.
• The consultation results for Buckfastleigh were read and discussed. It was noted that 87% of respondents disagreed with the proposals for Buckfastleigh. The poor quality of the consultation document was commented on and the figure for the number of people at the drop in session was queried as all those who had been there considered this to be an under estimate.
• The new proposals were discussed and it was agreed that they were a big improvement on the original plans. The decision to retain professional staff was welcomed. Anne reported that there were a number of similar schemes in the country, some, including the Suffolk Trust, which is the one being used as a model by Devon, seemed to be successful but at least one (Wigan) had failed and was being taken back by the council.
• We will discuss the pilot schemes, and whether to apply to be one, at our next meeting.
4. Library Café. Angela reported this was now underway, the Council were letting us have a downstairs room rent free on Thursday afternoons.. The W.I. are running it on the first Thursday in the month. There are an encouraging number of volunteers and a time table needs to be organised for the other days. Pam and Anne to do the next one.
5. Future activities. There were plenty of ideas for future activities including:
• Films. Other groups in the town are interested in getting a film club going , we would need to liaise with the Council, the Valiant Soldier, Jellyfish and Buck the Trend.
• Talks. Anne and Hilary reported on previous talks. It was thought talks could be literary or of local interest, including historical and current events.
• Computers. Evening sessions with access to computers was a popular idea.
• Classes Adult literacy and IT skills were suggested as being useful locally.
6. Saving money. Scope for cost cutting is limited but will need to be discussed for 2015/16. Janet described the discrepancy between the County and the Town’s figures for rent and the issue of business rates.
7. Housebound delivery service. John Smallwood reported there are not many deliveries being done, Janet suggested contacting Teign housing ‘in touch’ service.
8. Date of next meeting: Thursday 6th November.