Leave children's library services alone

They’re trying to work out how to manage cuts to their funding.

But should children’s events and activities, currently free of charge, even be up for debate?

Children who use libraries are twice as likely to become above average readers.

And literacy can affect health, confidence and employability for a lifetime.

So anything that encourages children to use libraries, and gets them and their parents through the door, is a good thing.

£1.50 per child for half-an-hour of Baby Boogie may not seem like much for a fun-filled session of good old-fashioned nursery rhymes.

But what if you’ve got two or three children?

And the idea of paying £3 a child for craft activities, even if it’s halved for parents on low incomes, may be just too much for many.

Parents may simply stop bringing their children to these events.

Or take them, if they can, to East or West Sussex libraries.

Either way, Brighton and Hove Libraries would certainly save money in the short-term on materials and staffing.

But if our children don’t learn just how much fun libraries can be, then who will be using them in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time?

Clearly Brighton and Hove Libraries have to save money somewhere.

The charges they’re suggesting for computers and adult activities seem reasonable, even relatively cheap.

But let’s leave our children out of the equation.

Della Cheshire – mum of two-year-old

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