PRESS RELEASE
110TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED WITH THE FIRST UPPER NORWOOD JOINT LIBRARY CHARTER
Knights Hill Councillor David Malone introduced the first-ever Joint Library Charter at last week’s meeting of the Upper Norwood Joint Library Committee.
The document encompasses a number of principles which support a continuation of the independent governance and ‘jointly-funded’ status of the service. This is a unique example of cooperation by the two local boroughs Lambeth and Croydon, who have held an equal stake in the Joint Library since 1898
The Chair of the Joint Committee, friends of the UNJL and the library staff have worked together to produce a document which captures the spirit of a locally-orientated and much-loved public service and which can be embraced by the residents of Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace, library customers and by both of the ‘parent authorities’.
Councillor Malone said “Next month we hope to ratify the Charter which will honour and re-affirm the history and principles that give the Joint Library such a unique and distinctive character.
Unfortunately, uncertainty about the future of the library has arisen in recent years, which has led to fears amongst local residents that it is destined to close or lose its independence to one, or both of the two ‘parent’ local authorities. The Charter will act as an indication of present and future commitment by both authorities, which should help to allay the anxieties of both library customers and staff. The Joint Library can then look forward to a positive future which is as enduring as its popular and successful past.
What more appropriate a way to mark our 110th year than to sign a Charter in time for our anniversary, which falls on the 4th July, Independence Day?
We want to celebrate the heritage, independence and uniqueness of the Joint Library and the excellent work of its current Chief Librarian and staff and their predecessors.”
NOTES FOR EDITOR:
The Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL) is the last independent and jointly-funded public library in this country. It opened to the public on 4th July 1900 and has always operated as a separate, ‘self-sufficient’ and independent library service for the Upper Norwood district.
The service has always been managed by a Joint Committee of eight councillors – four from Lambeth and four from Croydon.
The Crystal Palace community are actively engaged with the management of the UNJL through the participation of two local representatives, who sit on the Joint Committee.
The UNJL is a decentralised facility which provides all of its services on a fully ‘stand-alone’ basis. These include an annual programme of special events and activities for the whole community, special collections (including those featuring the Crystal Palace and Gerald Massey), a Youth Library, public access computers and more than 55,000 books, DVDs and CDs and other stock to borrow.
Independent status has enabled the Joint Library to serve the specific needs of the Crystal Palace community and this has proved extremely popular with library members, local residents, library staff, local organisations, schools and societies in the Norwood area down the years.
The Charter is intended to “serve primarily as a re-affirmation of the principles and traditions that have guided and sustained the Upper Norwood Joint Library Authority (UNJLA) since its inception in 1898.”
FURTHER DETAILS:
Cllr David Malone. Tel: 07946218435. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
