Could you tell me about your involvement with North Harrow library?
Let’s start from the beginning. Libraries are statutory provisioned. By statutory, I mean by law the councils are required to run libraries. The definition of what provision they have to run is undefined: it depends on the area, the population etc. The department of culture, media and sport oversee that regulation.
In 2014, Harrow had ten libraries and November 2014 they proposed to close four of them: North Harrow, Rayners Lane, Hatch End and Bob Lawrence in Edgware. I became involved purely as a campaigner because I was involved in a North Harrow community group for quite a few years. I was told about the consultation coming up in North Harrow to close the library; at the time I was just thinking whoever makes the loudest noise will get saved. We actually had a protest outside the library in December, I thought maybe 10 people will turn up, however nearly 100 people turned up! It gained momentum and as we started up ahead of everyone else we thought “yes, we’ll get saved”.
Unfortunately they still decided to close all four. Bob Lawrence in Edgware also started a campaign, so there was political pressure to save libraries. As a result of it, the council said “we’ll put up a provision for people to run them. At the time they thought nobody will come up with a plan that is good enough. A group of us got together and said “Let’s run it ourselves”. We had a month to come up with a business plan and our application to run it.
The council accepted our plan but it became quite a long, drawn-out battle to get the keys. Between 2015 and 2018 we had a lot of hurdles to get over: there were legal issues regarding the lease. There was also reluctance from the council to make it happen. We ended up with a 20 year lease on the library but we don’t get any funding, we have to pay for everything ourselves. The library is quite a big space; we have to raise a lot of money to keep it going.
That must be difficult?
Last year we were on a breakeven point. We were renting out the room at the back, which gives us about £10-12,000 per year. The rest of the income comes from donations, sales, grant fundings, events: we try to do 4 big events a year. And then Covid came.
Do you have any projects going on right now?
We have a youtube channel run by our volunteers, which started around May last year, as nothing was happening in the library. We also have a project which is in the pipeline at the moment: Covid awareness. Our plan is to do two videos and some illustrations with an Asian actor, an Irish comedian and an illustrator who campaigns for autism awareness. We will put them out on social media, counteracting anti-vaccine and covid misinformation.
Besides that, how has Covid affected the library?
We’ve completely lost our revenue stream from rentals. Last year our primary issue was running out of money. Luckily we managed to get a lottery fund grant. Then during the first lockdown in March we didn’t qualify for any of the business grants. However this time around, we’ve had funding. We’ve also receicved a grant from Harrow Giving who have received a lottery grant to distribute across Harrow organisations. Luckily we have sufficient money to keep us going this year and hopefully half of next year.
What role do you have in the library?
I am the chair of the trustees. We have 9 trustees and 80 volunteers but I help out with everything including cleaning. I am technically the face of the library because I do all the meeting with people.
Do you think libraries are essential to a local community?
I personally don’t read books so the only reason I’m involved in the library is because I think it’s a very important community space. The plan has always been to make it into a community hub and also for the library to remain there.
What were the projects had running from the library?
In 2019 we had a lot of things going on that weren't to do with the library. We had the North-West Community Diabetes Team running a whole day session once a month for people who had type 2 diabetes. We had yoga going on every week and meditation. We had regular meetings of different community groups. Our own volunteers were running a book club. We ran art classes for children in the summer. In Summer 2019, Harrow Carers ran a week long art course for the young carers as a respite, and we provided the space. Hopefully after Covid these activities can resume.
Were there any aspects of running the library that were unexpected?
When we started we thought: “We haven’t got enough money to buy books”; books are really expensive and to our amazement we are probably one of the best donated libraries. We have bought only 6 books. That’s all! But we have spent a lot of money on book covers, the biggest expense. We have so many books that we end up giving some to charities. We have also started selling books.
Do you feel like the community has got your back? Have they supported you?
Definitely. For 3 years, it was the community that kept it going. They were putting pressure on the council and that was what got us the keys.
Approximately how many people use the library?
When we’re open we have about 2,000 members using the library but we also get a lot of people who aren’t members using the library for various reasons. Just before lockdown we had a writers group for people who were suffering from mental illness. There are a lot of things going on that people don’t know about, behind the scenes.
Do you think this is an experience unique to North Harrow?
There are 350 community libraries in the UK but there are different models. We are a completely independent library, but other libraries may be part of their council network. It is quite unique to have a completely independant library: there are probably about 10.
