Arena Park Library is a more than just a library, it is a Community Hub valued by so many people.
The library, the third busiest in the city, also provides a home for many community groups such as Friendship Group, Book Club Group, Poetry Group, Knit and Natter Group, Rhyme Time Groups, Stay and Play Groups and is a Homework Help Hub, to name but a few. There are community groups meeting within the library most mornings and afternoons. It also provides free Community IT access for a great many people. The library is a part of the Arena Park Shopping Complex. This means that it us extremely well supported by the public transport network, has extensive adjacent parking and wonderful disabled access. The City Council is planning to close all of this and replace it with a small self service facility. This alternative will have no staff and will not support the community in anyway. It is purely a cost cutting exercise. They have already drastically reduced the number of staff at the library.
I am a member of the Knit and Natter Group at Arena Park Library. We are a group of ladies from a variety of cultures and backgrounds who come together each week to support and encourage each other. Several members of the Group have mental health issues, two members of the Group have Special Educational Needs, some of the ladies use it as a way to improve their English language skills. These are people and issues that Coventry City Council claims to support. Yet they are willing to destroy all this with, I believe, no accurate picture of the effects that their actions will have on the lives of the people who are members of these Groups.
I want the Kirsten Nelson, Director of Education, Adult Education and Libraries to look again at the proposed "replacement" of Arena Park Library and to fully identify the impact of closing the city's THIRD BUSIEST library in the city. If it must be moved to save money (the company that owns the building is asking for the council to sign a five year lease agreement costing £160,000 per year), then move it to a similar sized location and retain all of its current facilities and staff.