Published: 29 December 2011
by DAN CARRIER

THE Town Hall has confirmed bids have been accepted to run three libraries – Chalk Farm, Belsize and Heath – which the council can no longer afford to operate. The groups involved now have until April to finalise their plans.

But to make ends meet, branches are looking at innovative ways to raise funds – prompting fears that the core library services of book-borrowing and providing a place to read and work will fall by the wayside.

Heath library will be run by Phoenix Group, recently formed from civic groups, Belsize branch by The Winch community centre and Chalk Farm by a Friends group and Primrose Hill Community Association (PHCA).

Belsize branch will host a wide variety of events – including a cinema club and private functions – to help with fundraising. The Winch also plans to offer a learning  and work centre and a café.

The Winch chief executive Paul Perkins said: “We hope people will buy work time and it will become a ‘community lounge’.

“In terms of books on shelves, that will still be there and the service will still function, but without access to Camden’s stock it will be interesting to see how much people will use the library for books.”

His bid fought off two others.

One is unknown, but the New Journal has learned that a private nursery company wanted to take on the building and had promised to keep a skeleton library service in return for using the space. The Town Hall dismissed both out of hand.

Chalk Farm is looking to pay for services by using an endowment fund and the Heath has drawn up a business case which includes donations and help from the City of London.

The Heath and Hampstead Society chairman Tony Hillier, one of the key figures in setting up the Phoenix Group, said they would run Heath library on traditional lines.

“We have a detailed idea of how we will raise funds but at the moment it is confidential,” he said. “We are confident we will create a vibrant and viable literary centre.”

An annual membership fee would be charged for the renamed Keats Community Library, but it would be voluntary.

While no concrete discussions had taken place between the independent branches, Mr Hillier did not rule out schemes that would see book stocks pooled or a joint membership created. He added that he hoped to be able to draw on the council’s book stock.

In Primrose Hill, plans to save Chalk Farm library have seen 110 volunteers sign up and £350,000 raised.

The fund has a final target of £1.2million.

The key aim of the bid is to open the Sharpleshall Street  building more frequently.

The ambitious plans would see hours increase from the current three days a week to seven.

The children’s library is central to the steering group’s vision, with an adult lending library still on the cards.

PHCA chair Maureen Betts said: “Only at the end of January will we be able to say that our efforts have paid off. For us, this is not the end of a process but the beginning of a new exciting challenge.

“We intend not just to save the library but to transform it. But we will be able to go ahead with our project only if we manage to raise the money we need to build, according to our financial plan, an endowment fund.”

The Town Hall report that rubber-stamped the handovers has revealed the council will gift the branches around £250,000 worth of books, chairs and desks.

Including transitional support, the cost in total of the handover is estimated at around £300,000
Labour leisure chief Councillor Tulip Siddiq said: “Cuts to our budget have meant we’ve had to take difficult decisions.

“However, I was adamant that we should try innovative approaches and save our libraries.

I’m deeply impressed by the bids we’ve received and I can assure the successful organisations that they will be receiving our full support in the coming months.”

Pictured: Rallying round the libraries: 1) at Belsize the Winch community centre is to take over; 2) at Chalk Farm, a Friends group and (3) the Primrose Hill Community Association will take control and the Heath Library will be renamed the Keats Community Library and be run on traditional lines by the newly set-up Phoenix Group