Libraries matter – and most of all to those who are homeless or living in poverty due to low income, debt, illness or issues with Universal Credit. For those experiencing poverty, libraries are not a luxury, but a necessity, providing essential information, access to online services and free education resources, with vital assistance from professional library staff.
From Wednesday 6 February, Downham Library will be closed for
refurbishment until Thursday 28 February. Very little notice has
been given to the public regarding this closure, even though many rely on its
services. Some Downham Library users may have a Universal Credit claimant
commitment - a specified amount of time that must be spent logged in looking for
work and applying. If this is not done, they face sanctions. This could be a
real issue for claimants living in Downham.
While we welcome the improvement of physical
library facilities, Save Lewisham Libraries campaigners are concerned that this
sudden closure, albeit temporary, will adversely affect those already living
under the burden of a low income, particularly those on Universal Credit who
have to undertake mandatory 'claimant commitments': specified
hours that must be spent logged into the DWP's Universal Jobmatch website
looking for work.
We know that library staff frequently support users, particularly those
with limited digital literacy skills, to complete these mandatory tasks. During
the temporary closure no extra provision for assisted access to public
computers in the area appears to be available or advertised. We are
deeply concerned that this situation could lead to claimants facing benefit
sanctions - this is a serious issue as there are numerous cases where such
sanctions have led to loss of life.
We will be writing to Downham and Whitefoot ward councillors and Janet Daby MP to request that they write to the DWP and to Job Centres serving the area to make them aware of the situation, specifically that claimants may present at interviews with good reason for not having been able to meet their requirements during the period of the closure and that you urge them not to apply sanctions.
Any further cuts to professional staffing budgets at the three remaining council-run 'hub' libraries in Lewisham (Downham, Deptford and Lewisham Central) are likely to have a profound impact on users who are Universal Credit claimants and/or food bank users. As a recent iNews article on the realities of working in a library in the era of Universal Credit reveals:
We will be writing to Downham and Whitefoot ward councillors and Janet Daby MP to request that they write to the DWP and to Job Centres serving the area to make them aware of the situation, specifically that claimants may present at interviews with good reason for not having been able to meet their requirements during the period of the closure and that you urge them not to apply sanctions.
Any further cuts to professional staffing budgets at the three remaining council-run 'hub' libraries in Lewisham (Downham, Deptford and Lewisham Central) are likely to have a profound impact on users who are Universal Credit claimants and/or food bank users. As a recent iNews article on the realities of working in a library in the era of Universal Credit reveals:
“People think that libraries are just
there for fun. A lot of the time we’re the only places with staff that have the
time to help people. [...] People talk about cutting library
services without really acknowledging we’re doing a lot to prop up services
that haven’t been provided by the Jobcentre. [...] It makes me very
frustrated about the Universal Credit system. I appreciate it being online but
it can be so isolating for people who haven’t had that experience before. I saw
the film I, Daniel Blake before I started working at the library and I thought
it must be an exaggeration. But that scene, when he’s holding the mouse up to
the screen and trying to control it, that’s exactly what happens on a regular
basis. “It’s really difficult for libraries to quantify how much we help. In
the case of [helping a benefit claimant with limited English language skills],
that counts as one enquiry and one digital support service, but in reality that
was making sure he didn’t get sanctioned. That was quite a big thing for his
life. Maybe we had fewer visitors last year but we’ve helped more people in a
more meaningful way."
Similar stories of unquantifiable social value abound in Lewisham. One Save Lewisham Libraries campaigner describes how she became motivated
to fight against library cuts because of the people she met while volunteering
at one of four foodbanks in Lewisham:
“The importance of libraries for
people who come to foodbanks is that – as well as being a wonderful source
of books – libraries are often the only place
where they can access computers and find out how to use them in order to fill
in forms for benefits and make job applications. Foodbank users are often
caught up in an impersonal automated system, with no-one ever available to
answer telephone enquiries in person. It seems that it is only possible to
provide information and process applications online and many foodbank clients
have no access to computers except through their local libraries. And they
often have no recourse to public funds, having recently been in prison, or are
victims of domestic violence, refugees, or are homeless, or a combination of
several of these severe difficulties. The professional advice and sympathetic
support provided by experienced library staff to such vulnerable people is
really important and incredibly helpful.”
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| Food bank donations at New Cross Learning |
In his critical statement following a visit to the UK in 2018, Professor
Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human
rights, also raised the injustice of government cuts to local authority
services, including libraries, because of the safety net they provide for
people in poverty:
“It thus seems patently unjust and
contrary to British values that so many people are living in poverty. This is
obvious to anyone who opens their eyes to see the immense growth in foodbanks and
the queues waiting outside them, the people sleeping rough in the streets, the
growth of homelessness, the sense of deep despair that leads even the
Government to appoint a Minister for suicide prevention and civil society to
report in depth on unheard of levels of loneliness and isolation. And local
authorities, especially in England, which perform vital roles in providing a
real social safety net have been gutted by a series of government policies.
Libraries have closed in record numbers, community and youth centres have been
shrunk and underfunded, public spaces and buildings including parks and
recreation centres have been sold off.”
Cuts to library services hurt us all, but hit homeless people the
hardest is described by a library worker writing anonymously in The
Guardian:
"For many homeless people, the
library is a sanctuary. The computers provide a way to stay connected to loved
ones, and access to information on jobs, benefits and housing. The books and
newspapers provide solace, information and entertainment. And it is a place of
safety – something most homeless shelter residents spend their days searching
for. I had assumed that the local park was the most obvious public space, but
one regular library visitor explained that it was lonely and unsafe out there.
The library was the only public place with staff to keep the space safe."
Libraries cannot solve the problem of poverty, but they can give
critical assistance to those in desperate need, by providing information about
where to get specific support, access to computers and support with digital
skills, and a warm safe place for people of all ages and backgrounds. Library
closures or reductions in trained library staff have far-reaching, long-term
consequences for society – but those experiencing extreme poverty, the
consequences are immediate and devastating.
Join our campaign to stop further devastation to Lewisham Library Services.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 12th February, 7-9pm, at the Amersham Arms pub, 388 New Cross Rd, SE14 6TY. https://www.facebook.com/events/397039014196452/
Join our campaign to stop further devastation to Lewisham Library Services.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 12th February, 7-9pm, at the Amersham Arms pub, 388 New Cross Rd, SE14 6TY. https://www.facebook.com/events/397039014196452/
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Lewisham
Foodbank
MAIN LOCATION
Hope Centre
Malham Road
Forest Hill
London SE23 1AN
(open Wednesdays 10 am - 12 noon and
Fridays 12 noon - 2 pm)
Hope Centre
Malham Road
Forest Hill
London SE23 1AN
(open Wednesdays 10 am - 12 noon and
Fridays 12 noon - 2 pm)
PHONE
