Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council is planning to close Sallynoggin Library in the new-year, as a result of government imposed cutbacks.
Public Meeting: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 @ 7:30pm
Sallynoggin Community Centre ( Beside the church )
Currently, the library has between 1200 and 1500 active borrowers and users. This already represents a significant chunk of the population in Sallynoggin. As well as borrowing books, locals use the library for internet access, reading newspapers and other uses.
Many of the library’s users are young people, senior citizens and those on low incomes, who simply will not be able physically or financially to travel to Dun Laoghaire library, if Sallynoggin is closed.
Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett (People Before Profit Alliance) said in a statement:-
We must resist this unacceptable attack on local amenities.
It is a disgrace that Sallynoggin, which is already suffering neglect and a lack of local facilities, should lose one the few amenities it has. Why should the people of Sallynoggin pay for the greed of the bankers, developers and the politicians that were in their pockets.
While Sallynoggin library is below the standard that it should be in terms of its location in a make-shift classroom and limited opening hours, losing the library will be a major blow to the area.
The inadequate facilities at the current library are not a reason to close it down – they are a reason to upgrade it and provide more resources.
While the recent opening of the Sallynoggin youth and community centre is very welcome, one local amenity should not come at the expense of another.
The other problem is that the Council are planning to open a super-library HQ at Moran’s Park in Dun Laoghaire and while new library facilities are always welcome, it is now becoming clear that the new library will come at the expense of closing local libraries elsewhere or cutting their hours.
We need to resist these sorts of disgraceful and unfair cutbacks on vulnerable communities.
The People Before Profit Alliance held a meeting last week to discuss the closure of the library and are now taking up a petition in the area. We are holding another meeting on Wednesday December 2nd at 7.30pm in the Sallynoggin Youth and Community facility. Please come along to this meeting where petitions will be available for people to take away and we will be planning a demonstration to save the library.
The meeting will also discuss the wider issue of neglect and lack of amenities in the area, particularly as developers have now put forward plans for the Deerhunter site and the Council are planning to prepare a Local Area Plan for Sallynoggin.
It is vital that local residents make their voices heard to demand the retention of existing amenities and a major improvement in the provision of facilities and services for the area.