Throughout the rounds of media coverage that the local Save Leisure campaign gained exposure in, there was one person who I kept bumping into, socially distanced of course! Charlotte Moore is a journalist for Peterborough Matters and she had spoken on BBC Cambs radio to emphasise the significance of the Vivacity services within local communities. She had in-depth personal insight into these services as she had worked for Vivacity across several facilities. Her role with Peterborough Matters had involved this story, and in doing so she had written commentary pieces that had received a large amount of readers. I wanted to cover this topic with some wise words from her, because in raising these issues, these voices are essential. Especially when raising awareness of the importance of effective communication from public officials with regards to local culture and leisure service provision. You used to work for Vivacity, please tell us about your role and how you engaged local members of the community?
I was a library assistant at Vivacity; everything that needed done in the library, I was there to do it! From things you'd expect (finding books, putting books away, recommending books, reading - no, I never did that at work) to things that people might not expect at all. I planned events, I helped people on computers, I did displays, I gave directions. It's a job that needs a lot of patience and a bit of knowledge about everything.
How valuable were the services and facilities that Vivacity operated?
The services are vital. That's the essence of it. There are people who use the public libraries who only have that one point of contact all day or week or month. There are people who use libraries who don't have a computer at home so that's their connection to the world wide web and everything in it. We had new parents come in with their children to Rhymetime and Storytime sessions and befriend other new parents in the area, giving a support network that might be difficult to track down without the library as a go-between. And books are expensive! I bought enough in lockdown to know that! Libraries give people access to a whole universe and they don't ask for anything in return other than "bring stuff back on time and please don't be rude to staff", and that's easy.
It truly is one of the last services in society that people can use and get way more than they need to give back. Sit and read with your child. Get books delivered to your door by a friendly volunteer. School visits and social groups and technology classes and job clubs and free books. And the Vivacity library staff understood that so well. They loved - and still do - knowing they were helping people.
Do you feel that these local members of community were supported throughout the transition period?
I think that transparency was difficult. There are still things I'm unsure about, so I hope the current staff have been told more - but I wouldn't like to bet on it! Of course, the transferring of all of these services was unlikely to be simple, I'm sure that those involved in the decisions had a lot more to think about than what it looked like from the outside, and I think that attempts were made to reassure people that much-loved services wouldn't be immediately lost. Could it have been better? Yes. I think there was a lot of silence on the matter - when other libraries and gyms and facilities across the country were opening, ours weren't, and I think the people of Peterborough understood we had a more complicated situation, but I'm sure it would have been difficult for some of the regular users in the community to know and hear nothing.
I do think, though, that services like the libraries are always under threat, even when they're not specifically under threat. They don't make money, so it's a constant question mark over how they can be run efficiently. Even when the transition period is over and all of the libraries are open again, I don't know that that question mark will ever go away - and that would have been the same even if Vivacity had retained control.
What lessons do you think the Council should learn? What changes would you like to see in the future provision of these local services?
For me it's all about making it a priority to remember that the people who benefit most from the services I used to provide at the library - and the classes for those with disabilities that the gyms provided, and the school visits that the museum put on - are people who risk falling through the cracks if they don't have support. I do like the idea of a big and more central library like they're proposing on Bridge Street, but not if it's going to drain resources from the satellite libraries that reach more marginalised communities. It's great to find ways of making money in libraries like they were doing with the UK Visa service, but I would change my mind on that if there was a sudden emphasis on expanding money-making services at the expense of groups that are more about people than profit.
The council will inevitably be concerned about money - and I can't blame it for that, especially not while we recover from the pandemic - but I would like to see that aforementioned question mark go away. I'd like to just see some acceptance that, yeah, libraries don't bring in a lot of money, but there's a different wealth in what they provide.
I want to give the council a chance to provide these services before I suggest things they should improve, because there were certainly things across Vivacity that I thought should have been different. For one specific so I don't feel like I'm dodging the question: I'm glad to see that they don't seem to be replacing the uniforms! Nothing against a uniform, but I was always unsure about whether the cost was worth it...
I would like to thank Charlotte, John and Mark for their time over the past month. their insights and thoughts have greatly complemented my blog and the contents that I have shared. Please make sure you keep up with fantastic work they all do.
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