Libraries

A few days ago, I wrote about seeing the new library in Worcester, a gleaming golden building on the banks of the Severn, with a little tower to one side of it with an open air seating area on top. While modern architecture might not be everyone's cup of tea, it does show the importance of libraries in the minds of the members of Worcestershire County Council.

That's why it's so sad to look over the border at Herefordshire, where the County Council are about to slash library funding by 75%, and cut museum funding completely! I'm not sure what this will mean for the library/museum facing the cathedral, with its wonderful Victorian frontage, but it will mean people losing their jobs and libraries closing all over the county. Herefordshire County Council seem to have got themselves into a heck of a mess with their money, but they seem to be cutting all the non-statutory services - in other words, in future they will only be providing the services that they are forced to provide by law. Everything else will go, or be severely reduced.

Meanwhile, the new shopping centre continues to rise over the old cattle market, with less than half of the shops taken by tenants so far - a project that had money thrown at it by the council. And there doesn't seem to be much information on the council's official website about the new proposals, either.