Round-Up: Library Accounts, Wolds Words, And Brothels

September 13th 2013

Wolds Words

Wolds Words have released their programme for the 2013 festival, which runs from 16th to the 20th of October. This year the literary event has a focus on crime and comedy. On Friday 18th Christina James will be talking about crime writing at the Conoco Room at 12.30pm, and on Saturday 19th Dr Tom Green will be presenting a talk on "The Criminals of Louth" at the Riverhead Theatre. The comedian Hal Cruttenden will be headlining on the Saturday night, with his stand-up comedy act at the Riverhead Theatre, supported by Geoff Whiting.

There's the usual range of writing workshops, events for schools, local history, films, and exhibitions. There are also various craft workshops, such as one on making graffiti T-shirts on Friday the 18th at Louth Youth Centre, and an all-day paper-making workshop at the Trinity Centre on Thursday 17th. In all, it seems like a festival with something for everyone. You can download the programme here.

Library spending

The county council met on the morning of 13th September, and on the agenda is the crucial debate on libraries. Petitions have been gathered from around the county for the Save Lincolnshire Libraries campaign, as well as for individual libraries, such as the one in the Deepings. The webcast of this meeting should be available online, and there was a lot of lively debate about library provision.

One of the things I've been trying to get more information on is the background figures for these library spending cuts. CIPFA is a body that provides statistics and data on public finance, and it produced an analysis of Lincolnshire's libraries in comparison with other similar local authorities. Of particular interest are what are termed the "support service" costs, which are higher in Lincolnshire than any other comparable county, as you can see on page 16 of the report linked above. These support services, according to CIPFA, make up over 40% of overall expenditure on Lincolnshire libraries.

But what are support services? From the questions I've put to Jonathan Platt, library professionals, and others, they seem to be something to do with a range of things, including HR, finance and accounting, and computer support. They may also have something to do with inter-library loans. What they don't seem to be are the costs of front-line library staff, transport, books, or premises.

In an attempt to understand these costs, given as £4,603,454 for 2011-12, I made a Freedom of Information request to the county council. I asked specifically for a detailed breakdown of the support service costs for 2012-13. Instead, they sent me the following table, which appears to be all of the library service costs except support services. I've included them for completeness, but they really don't get to the heart of the matter.

I have made another FOI request for the correct information. It is taking a lot of time to obtain the right information about this issue, and I can only speculate as to why.

Library	Employee	Premises	Transport	Supplies & Services	Agency & Contracted Services	Income	Recharges	SAP Net Target	Net Target Exp
Caistor	20,274	11,000	332	1,263		-1,371		31,497	31,497
Gainsborough	144,097	20,175	1,470	3,158		-11,010	-26	157,864	157,864
Keelby	11,509	3,860	126	282		-439	0	15,337	15,337
Market Rasen	67,188	8,487	3,252	1,515		-2,647	0	77,794	77,794
Saxilby	15,610	5,788	10	3,123	5,970	-1,488	0	29,013	29,013
Scotter	2,283	3,531	181	292		-224	0	6,063	6,063
Alford	24,403	10,831	138	2,826		-2,093	0	36,105	36,105
Burgh Le Marsh	10,517	3,780		476		-432	0	14,340	14,340
Louth	129,936	33,512	30	2,771		-14,164	57	152,142	152,142
Mablethorpe	78,256	100,280	715	3,028		-5,994	28	176,314	176,314
Skegness	101,232	1,372	875	5,423		-8,188	235	100,950	100,950
Spilsby	18,543	29	25	679		-1,390	37	17,921	17,921
Sutton On Sea	12,322	7,174	0	716		-1,046	0	19,166	19,166
Wainfleet	11,691	8,334	0	1,038		-1,287	0	19,774	19,774
Coningsby/Tatt	22,336	4,409	94	1,219		-6,292	9,526	31,292	31,292
Horncastle	86,541	11,973	300	2,446		-13,980	150	87,431	87,431
Woodhall Spa	18,583	11,548	35	1,314		-1,903	17	29,594	29,594
Birchwood	85,897	27,788	987	2,733		-4,809	12	112,608	112,608
Boultham	53,165	23,616	60	2,126		-3,462	-528	74,977	74,977
Skellingthorpe	5,881	4,792	-5	579		-478	0	10,769	10,769
Ermine	56,555	21,104	888	2,065		-3,502	0	77,111	77,111
Cherry Willingham	8,515	8,573		813		-433	0	17,468	17,468
Nettleham	59,664	16,585	1,371	1,866		-1,909	0	77,577	77,577
Welton	25,197	10,542	336	2,251		-3,051	0	35,275	35,275
Sleaford	123,667	25,353	193	3,566		-13,336	103	139,546	139,546
Ruskington	24,330	7,079	31	749		-985	0	31,204	31,204
North Hykeham	81,785	11,178	1,105	1,983		-4,081	740	92,710	92,710
Bracebridge	13,865	6,551		1,252		-342	0	21,327	21,327
Metheringham	15,591	5,128	38	1,087		-1,595	0	20,250	20,250
Branston	75,996	4,382	576	1,822		-2,791	22	80,006	80,006
Bracebridge Heath	12,881	5,232	-1	285		-669	22	17,750	17,750
Waddington	7,339	5,911	295	597		-643	0	13,499	13,499
Washingborough	7,468	6,047	18	792		-466	22	13,881	13,881
Stamford	171,051	29,864	1,952	5,694		-14,538	60	194,084	194,084
Bourne	25,503	11,943	30	32,688		-5,327	41	64,880	64,880
Deepings	44,435	17,260	32	1,864		-4,578	0	59,013	59,013
Grantham	203,685	69,804	1,798	2,955		-15,179	-237	262,826	262,826
Boston	158,035	4,166	297	2,977		-11,561	324	154,238	154,238
Donington	13,168	8,728		557		-1,194	0	21,259	21,259
Kirton	17,970	11,151	27	792		-1,586	9	28,363	28,363
Holbeach	45,826	8,399		1,743		-4,076	1	51,892	51,892
Long Sutton	64,524	7,500	1,499	3,023		-3,405	1	73,143	73,143
Spalding	128,955	19,197	292	3,229		-12,710	0	138,962	138,962
Crowland	19,894	10,693		1,544		-2,655	1	29,477	29,477
Lincoln	411,246	160,999	64	52,678		-31,303	-1,889	591,795	591,795
Wragby Learning	24,855	18		1,611		-753	8,019	33,750	33,750
Belton Lane				352				352	352
Pinchbeck Library	5,930	10,677		565		-1,986	-150	15,036	15,036
Sutton Bridge Library					3,500			3,500	3,500
Mobiles	595,531	6,369	244,314	36,454		-1,724	345	881,289	881,289
	3,363,721	812,713	263,782	204,862	9,470	-229,076	16,943	4,442,415	4,442,415
Bookstart	44,823		3,558	3,183				51,564	51,564
Schools Service	42,382	25	967	2,317		-1,360	-8,693	35,638	35,638
Management	649,654							649,654	649,654
Book Fund				654,064		-18,665		635,398	635,398
CD/DVD				82,174		-130,841	-375	-49,042	-49,042
	4,100,580	812,738	268,307	946,599	9,470	-379,943	7,875	5,765,626	5,765,626

Singing

You Can Sing Vocal Academy has started its autumn season, and preparations are on for a concert on December 1st, on a West End theme. That means this is a good time for new members to join. The classes are at 5pm to 6pm for children, and 6pm to 7pm for adults, at the dance studio on Mount Pleasant, just off Church Street, every Monday.

Brothels

The Gatherums Regeneration Trust had an open night on Wednesday. I didn't make it, but I'm reliably informed that I missed a treat. Dr Tom Green entertained an audience at the Conoco Room to stories of brothels in the Aswell Hole, and social injustice in crime and punishment in local history, and I've heard he's a really good speaker.

The trust is hoping to restore the Aswell Hole and its horse steps in the future.