Buckinghamshire Council are reducing the number of hours that Amersham Library will be staffed from 41 hours down to 28.7 hours. Outside of these times you can only access it via an automated system with no staff on hand to help.

After the huge investment in the building, it seems very short sighted to now reduce the use of such an important asset to the community. This is a short-term financial saving which will have a long-term negative impact on Amersham residents, particularly the youngest, the oldest and the most vulnerable.

Our main concerns are:

·       Children under 16 will not be able to use this service unless accompanied by an adult. 

·       The library already has self-service machines, which many people require help to use. 

·       This is not just reducing library services time; it is reducing even further the Council Access Point services.

·       This discriminates against people who are not computer literate.

·       Losing the face-to-face contact with library staff, who can help when a computer cannot and who may give up coming to the library as a consequence.

·       Security and safety of the building and its contents. People may be able to tailgate official users of the scheme into the library, and it should not be up to these users to challenge people as to whether they are allowed to be there. 

·       Limiting access to Librarians advice to so many groups of people: the young, elderly and vulnerable.

·       Greater responsibility for groups using the library when there is no staff member available, this may lead to reduced usage.

·       The consultation is designed not to ask whether it should happen but only on how it should it happen, making it harder for residents to object.