Wednesday 6 February 2013

Friern Barnet Community Library Celebrates Victory over Council Cuts | Demotix.com

Friern Barnet Community Library Celebrates Victory over Council Cuts | Demotix.com

Very good pictures and article

Friern Barnet Library supporters celebrated victory in overturning Barnet Council's closure decision in a ceremony in which the Occupy squatters who had prevented its sale, handed over the library keys to the local community who will now run it.
The victory by local residents, squatters and activists from the Occupy Movement against Barnet Council is not just a local matter, but one of national (and possibly even international) importance. A great example of democracy in action it shows how a combination of campaigning, lobbying, direct action and making use of the law can win against bureaucracy and greed.
Today residents and squatters came together to celebrate their victory after Barnet had agreed to lease the building to a community company set up to run it as a library, Friern Barnet Community Library (FBCL).
The library had for some years been deliberately neglected by Barnet Council, run down to give them the excuse to close it. It's hard not to suspect that this might be connected the with possibility of fat profits for whoever would be sold the site to develop it with luxury flats; although the actual library site is not huge, at each side there is an area of grass. Given its position, it is a site that property developers would drool over.
Locals obviously valued and loved their library and set up the Save Friern Barnet Library Group when they heard about the proposed closure. They were an active group which publicised the issue, started petitions, lobbied councillors, organised events and got the media involved - but the council was obdurate and refused to listen to them, closing the library in April 2012.
Things changed in September. A new law came into force penalising the homeless and squatters by making squatting in residential buildings illegal. One of the main proposers of this legislation which penalises the homeless and largely protects those holding empty properties as investments (those living in properties were already protected by law) had been an MP for the area which includes the library. On September 3, community activist squatters, including those who had been part of Occupy London, reopened it on 3 September, as a campaign to save the library (and a part of the National Libraries Campaign to save other libraries around the country faced with closure) and also as a protest against the new squatting laws.
Since then the library has been opened by residents and squatters for community use - borrowing of books, various classes and other activities - six days a week. And it was only the direct action in taking over the building that eventually enabled the protesters to force Barnet Council to negotiate and reach an agreement. Without them development would have gone ahead. Squatting gave the protesters time to fight, and to use the law against the council.
As the library is not a residential building it was not covered by the law against squatting, and the council had to go to court to try and evict the squatters. At the possession hearings the squatters argued that their occupation of the premises was a protest, and that the had the right to protest under Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act. This gave the library supporters the chance to talk about the real issues involved. Rather than grant a possession order, the judge on December 18 decided that although the council's right to possession was more important, Barnet Council must try to negotiate some form of licence to keep the library open to preserve proportionality between the rights of protesters and of the council.
Although initially there had been some residents who were not too happy with having squatters in their Library, there reservations were soon broken down when they saw what they were actually achieving.
There was a real party atmosphere in the library today, and residents and the activists obviously were celebrating together. We were called to order by one of the new library trustees, local Rabbi Jeffrey Newman and there were a few short speeches and at noon in a short ceremony the squatters handed over the keys to the building to residents who are trustee of the newly formed The Friern Barnet Community Library (Ltd).
After this, residents and activists joined hands to dance in a line around the two green spaces on either side of the library, which they hope to register like the library as community assets. A ribbon across the doorway of the library was then cut by local Councillor Pauline Coakleywebb, and we went back inside for more speeches and celebrations.
The speeches dealt with some of the issues raised by the library closures and the fight against them - the vital importance of libraries, particularly for the poor, unemployed and disadvantaged for whom they are a great educational resource. While many less wealthy countries are still struggling to set up libraries, what sense does it make to shut them down here? One woman read a poem about the need for libraries, particularly for children; Phoenix talked about the need to make empty properties available for the homeless as well as the campaign to save libraries, the barrister who had represented the protesters spoke, and the many candles on the impressive 'bookworm' cake were lit before the legal adviser to the campaign cut it and then blew them all out.
There was time for a few soft drinks and other snacks as well as the cake, and to speak to many of the people before, just as I was leaving, there was a second handing over of the keys staged for the benefit of a photographer from the national press.
This was a fine celebration of a great event, both for the local community but also for others in the country who are fighting against closures and cuts - and in Barnet itself the fight will continue against the 'One Barnet' proposals to outsource much of the council's activities to let private companies profit from the council tax paid by the borough's residents.

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