Completing the Library services review - Croydon Council

South Norwood’s Brutalist Library is set to remain open! We are thrilled that Croydon Council have heard local residents saying we need our library service. The most recent proposals suggest combining the Brutalist Library with the Samuel Coleridge Taylor Centre next door to create a new “community hub”.

Croydon Libraries are running a consultation about the plans and we need your help to make sure as many people respond as possible. The most important thing is that you complete the survey and share your views:

One question (the question number will vary) in the survey is especially relevant to the future of the Brutalist Library:

Q: The three proposed community hubs (New Addington, Purley, South Norwood) would include libraries as part of a wider offer delivered in partnership with other council services and community organisations. Which services would you prioritise alongside the library?
Please select your top three services.

The survey asks which services we would prioritise alongside our library service – this is our chance to be creative! There is no right answer here so we’ve tried to pull together some information and examples from around the country that might be helpful for where you put your vote.

Top tips:

• We recommend selecting the “I need more information” option to encourage the consultation team to keep working with residents to design the services we need and want.

• Think about what would be most helpful to you, even if you think it could never happen. Be bold!

• Be aware that there is no guarantee any of the services provided alongside the library service would be free to access. In the examples we’ve seen there are some free offers from public health teams or adult learning providers, but most of the additional services are provided by community or private organisations with different commercial models from the library.

• In some cases, the difference between the two options isn’t very clear (e.g. between family support and children’s education classes or between health advice and health services). If you’re not sure, we suggest flagging your thoughts on this in the “something else” text box – we hope the examples we’ve shared below will be a source of inspiration for you!

Use the open text box under “something else”

The list provided in the survey is not exhaustive. Please think about what might be missing from the question and share your ideas.

We came up with:

• Access to digital support including device and data banks and informal support with digital skills - see Wiltshire Libraries

• Specific support for teenagers e.g. homework clubs, youth club activities, access to audiobooks, ebooks and computer games - see Deptford Lounge and this brochure of global examples by global charity EIFL

• Opportunity to discover and try out new technologies - see Coventry Libraries and their VR lab

• Encouraging our local designers and entrepreneurs through the provision of tools too expensive for small businesses to buy themselves such as a laser cutter, 3D printer, t-shirt presses, sewing machines, design software and more - see the FabLab at The Word in South Tyneside and the Oxford BIPC

• Welcoming people to make social connections by offering a warm space (see Swansea Spaces) or activities such as board game clubs, a community garden, book clubs, choirs, author events and more

What could the different options look like?

Family support services

We’ve found examples of children’s centres and nurseries being located alongside libraries - see the For All Clinic in Weston Super Mare and Blakelaw Library in Newcastle. We’ve also found examples where community services like antenatal checkups, health visitors and breastfeeding support are hosted alongside the library such as Chelmsley Wood Library in Solihull.

Most libraries already run activities for small children like rhyme time and activities during holidays like the Summer Reading Challenge. We’ve seen examples from libraries around the country where holiday clubs and regular activities for children are held – see also children’s education classes.

Health and wellbeing advice / Access to health services

These are two separate options but we’re lumping them together here. We’ve found examples that range from well-being support such as coffee mornings, community allotment projects, yoga and tai-chi classes, arts and crafts workshops, and writing for wellbeing through to doctors and nurses being available in the community hub - see The Word in South Shields and the For All Clinic in Weston Super Mare.

We’ve found examples of health services provided through library hubs which include vaccinations, help to stop smoking, community counselling, drop-in sessions, expert patient groups or support and treatment for long-term conditions like diabetes, heart and respiratory disease. Some community hubs have a machine that offers health indicators and can share information with your GP with your permission - see Somerset Libraries.

Adult education classes

There are some great examples of adult education classes being based alongside libraries. We especially love The Idea Store in Tower Hamlets which has a catalogue of courses including creative skills like photography, employability support like IT courses, and classes for adults who want to improve their English.

Libraries across the country are doing amazing things to support people with their digital and IT skills which might be particularly helpful for older adults. See the work being done to provide digital access and inclusion in Leeds and the sessions being run in Norfolk Libraries around building confidence online and how to keep safe from scams and misinformation. Norfolk Libraries also have a jobseekers club where they support people to produce a CV and use online job searching tools.

It is not clear to us whether this includes informal types of learning e.g. joining a choir or forming a gardening group so we’re planning to stick those in the “something else” text box - see Deptford Lounge

Children’s education classes

We’re interpreting this in the broadest possible sense and have found brilliant examples of children’s activities and clubs which are often based around a theme. For example, activities linked to reading and writing might include author visits, creative writing clubs, book groups etc. It also seems that STEM activities are very popular including Lego clubs, coding classes and micro:bits - see The Word in South Shields, and The Idea Store in Tower Hamlets. Homework clubs are also a popular offer and are typically supported by an adult.

While we support the idea of Open+ technology in principle, for safeguarding reasons it will mean that under 18s can’t access the library on their own so we want to ensure that the opening hours of library services ensure that young people always have a free, safe, warm space they can access to complete homework.

Leisure services

In Woodford the library service is run by a leisure provider so there is a library and gym in one building. We think this is unlikely to be the plan in South Norwood because there is a purpose-built Leisure Centre on Portland Road and a yoga studio on our High Street but we have seen examples where fitness and wellbeing classes are provided alongside the library such as tai-chi, pilates and many other activities.

There is a good chance this option was intended to include socialising options like a community garden like the one at the For All Clinic in Weston Super Mare) or activity groups. We’re planning to pop those in the “something else” box just in case! Examples we’ve found are:

•  Choir

•  Community allotment/gardening group

•  Chess club

•  Arts and Crafts Club

•  Book groups

Arts and culture services

It has been a real treat finding out about all the amazing creative offers around the country that are located alongside libraries services. Some have been purpose-built to include performance space or a cinema (see The Curve in Slough, StoryHouse in Chester and our neighbours in West Norwood Library and PictureHouse). We think this is unlikely given the existing space available in the Brutalist Library and Samuel Coleridge Taylor Centre as well as the existing nearby offer through Stanley Arts, CYTO and the cinema space at Socca Cheta. However, there are lovely examples of using library services as performance venues in the evening or having small studios available for rehearsal and performances - see Merton Arts Space, The Word in South Shields and Deptford Lounge.

In addition to performance arts, we’ve seen examples of where libraries are partnered with exhibition spaces, offering tools and workshops for designers, support for learning about architecture and heritage, spoken word events, author events and opportunities for people to get involved and try something creative themselves.

We wonder whether the community hub could build on our strong musical heritage. Given the hub will sit partly in the Samuel Coleridge Taylor Centre and we have the talent from the Brit School located just around the corner, perhaps we could do more to nurture our homegrown musical talent by offering lending libraries for music and even instruments, bookable music studios or listening booths? We found great examples in Texas and Finland) (this one fits in “arts and culture services” too!) Could we have practice rooms for an orchestra or to provide music lessons?

Community groups providing services

This is brilliantly vague, and could encompass all of the above… however we do have one last case study up our sleeve. Blakelaw Library in Newcastle has been taken over by a community organisation and provides a community market to help provide affordable food and reduce food waste, an affordable café and a community garden as well as a nursery and community counselling.

Please be aware that the Brutalist Library campaign group is a team that volunteers alongside our full-time jobs so we will continue to campaign for a library service that is properly run by professional librarians.

• Complete the 2024 Croydon Council Library Services Consultation

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