Roger Aitken says Barnet needs newspapers in its libraries

Notwithstanding that Barnet Council is facing significant financial challenges and having to identify ongoing savings across all budgets, it was sad to discover on a recent visit to my local library that hardcopy newspapers are now no longer available across Barnet libraries.

A notice at High Barnet library states: “You can read the Daily Mail, The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph online on PressReader as well as magazines and newspapers from around the world.” This might be progress in a digital age, but for many it will have shocked them.

Now I appreciate that the council is having to leave no stone unturned to yield cost savings, but surely this action will hardly put a dent in a £25m black hole (at the last count) in the budget.

I would suggest too that this cut represents an attack on a core service. A library is for reading after all. It should further be noted that there was no consultation over the move, echoing a similar approach taken with the food bank hub at old East Barnet library. Still, it might have been sensible to gauge public reaction before implementation.

Roger Aitken

East Barnet

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