Library campaigner Chris Draper outraged that £3,700 of public money is spent on Blackberry’s and phone calls by library bosses

Oct 13 2011 by Mari Jones, North Wales Weekly News

A CAMPAIGNER trying to save Penrhyn Bay library from closure is outraged that £3,700 of public money has been spent on Blackberry phones and calls for library bosses in a year.

Five library managers have been issued with Blackberrys by Conwy County Council.

The council has also confirmed there is an ongoing police investigation into the theft of one the phones.

Under a Freedom of Information request it was revealed that £2,577 worth of unauthorised calls were made on the stolen phone until it was disconnected.

The authority admits that as there is an ongoing police investigation, “it has not yet been determined how the costs will be recovered and who will pay them”.

Marianne Jackson, head of community development services for Conwy Council, explained why the library managers have been issued with Blackberrys.

“They are issued because the managers are ‘on call’ on a rota basis every Saturday morning and need to be contactable in an emergency.

“A Blackberry allows them to work from different locations, access e-mails and link to the corporate intranet and internet at times when libraries are open but other council offices are closed.”

Local historian Chris Draper, who is part of the group trying to save Penrhyn Bay library from closure, commented: “My partner and I asked various questions about the libraries using the Freedom of Information Act.

“The documents we received show the bizarre and wasteful management of Conwy libraries,” he said.

“Why should the public be financing £3,700 on Blackberrys and calls for five managers?

“Also, I discovered the council has printed 25,000 plastic bags for the libraries that it can’t get rid of, and 2,000 cloth bags that it’s tried to flog for £2. The bags cost £3,200 to produce, they were made in March 2010, and figures show that by the end of May 2011 only 152 were sold.

“This again shows a scandalous waste of public money.”

In response, Ms Jackson commented: “Twenty-five thousand plastic bags were supplied at no cost to the library service in 2007 to give to library customers to carry their books.

“In response to feedback from customers, cloth bags were ordered in 2010 to eventually replace the plastic bags.”

Mr Draper also notes that in Conwy’s Modernisation of Library Service report, one of the options would be to close seven out of 12 of Conwy’s libraries but he was shocked to see that staffing costs would go up by £53,918.

“They plan to close seven out of 12 libraries, so shouldn’t staffing levels fall? Unbelievably they plan to spend money on additional staff!” he added.

Ms Jackson responded: “Conwy Library Service does not currently meet the Welsh Public Library Standards with regard to staffing levels.

“The number of staff required is based on the population of the county borough and not the number of library buildings. To meet this standard, Conwy needs to increase the number of staff.”

The libraries under threat from closure are Cerrigydrudion, Deganwy, Penrhyn Bay, Kinmel Bay, Llandudno Junction, Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr, although there is a proposal that would see Cerrigydrudion and Penmaenmawr saved, and a new library to serve Llandudno Junction, Conwy and Deganwy being built.