Its high time the Welsh Government and Senedd Members step up to the plate
Future
generations will not forgive us if we walk away from our heritage.
It
is the failure of today’s politicians to appreciate and understand the enormous
sacrifices made by generations of working people decades ago that quite frankly
appalls me.
It is a travesty that the National Library of
Wales is facing cuts to its services and staffing that a previous National
Librarian has said could mean the end of the institution.
Anyone that has visited and or used the
services of the National Library can but marvel at what a jewel in Wales’
cultural crown the institution is. Set in a commanding site overlooking Aberystwyth with outstanding facilities. It’s a national library, education centre, art gallery, map
library, music archive, national archive, photo library and television archive
holding the folk memory of Wales on behalf of the people.
The Library budget has been frozen for a
decade, which when considering inflation, it has been cut by some 40%. Over the
years it has lost 100 staff and now the current round of cuts will see the loss
of a further 30 jobs, mainly in curatorial roles and those related to access.
This represents 15% of the workforce and comes on top of a reduction of 30% in
the last decade
The story of the last decade therefore had
been repeated restructuring. Just like other public services staff pay was
frozen for 5 years, but it still has managed to keep core services in operation
and prioritise acquisition, cataloguing, digitisation and access.
It was established in 1909 thanks to generous
contributions from the regular working people of Wales and was given its first
government support by David Lloyd George. It
is the failure of today’s politicians to appreciate and understand the enormous
sacrifices made by generations of working people decades ago that quite frankly
appalls me.
It is frankly unbelievable that staffing
levels will return to a level even Margaret Thatcher’s government thought
unsustainable to run a limited access national library https://undod.cymru/en/2021/01/24/nol-i-oes-thatcher-ir-llyfrgell-genedlaethol-toriadau-in-treftadaeth/
A report commissioned by the Welsh Government
recognised that the Library was underfunded for its present role and needed to
invest further to meet the challenges of the digital future https://gov.wales/national-library-wales-tailored-review-national-library-wales
It said that changes would be needed, but
what is happening isn’t a restructure to help our National Library serve the
people of Wales better, it’s a bonfire of culture and history.
In the last 20 years it has transformed from
a closed institution where you needed a letter of recommendation to study to a
truly pioneering service with collections and exhibitions open to all, an
education service to help support school children and an outreach programme
which has taken works of art out to communities across the country. It was a
huge cultural change with a massive shake up of the structure and services to
meet the demands of the digital age and the agenda of opening the Library and
its collections to those who really own them.
It’s digitised millions of items and made them
available free of charge for people across Wales and the world to use;
photographs of life in Wales during the Second World War letters home from
soldiers in the First World War, historic manuscripts, maps, works of art, and a century of Welsh newspapers. This work is now all under threat.
According to Andrew Green, cuts of this
nature means that the Library means that there won’t be enough staff left to
keep essential services running (https://nation.cymru/opinion/are-we-going-to-lose-the-national-library-of-wales/).
The plan seen by unions shows that there will
be no digitization except for broadcast material, a cut of between 20% and 40%
in collecting and much more restricted outreach and exhibitions.
The photographs showing the Greenham Common
protest, posters, and leaflets from the Miners’ Strike, letters sent home from
soldiers in the Second World War, and newspapers detailing life in Wales during
the Great Depression will remain locked in their storage.
Even seeing those items in Aberystwyth will
be more difficult. The enquiries service and reading room services will be
disbanded and replaced with a much more restricted service by appointment only
and on a part-time basis.
Without a fair budget, even this sad shell of
a national library will only survive another few years until the next
inevitable round of cuts. But by then, there may be nothing left to save.
The expert staff will be gone and valuable
records of Welsh life will either have been sold overseas or thrown in the bin.
The unions at the Library are asking for the
support of the public to show the Welsh Government how much they value the
Library.
It’s clear from the response to the campaign
that the people of Wales care about their National Library- the petition now
has over 10,000 signatures and this means that the Senedd will consider a
debate on the issue, but we still need your help.
Future
generations will not forgive us if we walk away from our heritage.
Please help in as many ways as you can:
·
Sign and share the petition
on the Welsh Parliament website at https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/244641
·
Write to your Member of the
Senedd to ask them to call for fair funding of our National Library. You can
find your Senedd Members at https://senedd.wales/find-a-member-of-the-senedd/
·
Contact the Minister for
Mental Health, Wellbeing and the Welsh Language (Eluned Morgan Eluned.Morgan@senedd.wales)
and the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sports and Tourism (Dafydd Elis-Thomas Dafydd.Elis-Thomas@senedd.wales)
to ask them to act on the review of the Library that they commissioned and to
provide the extra funding
You can follow the campaign on Twitter https://twitter.com/ProspectLlGC