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CNJ helped us save threatened libraries
• HAPPY 25th birthday, CNJ.
The last quarter of a century has truly been an eventful one in Camden and, during that period, the CNJ has been the local newspaper that has supported residents’ efforts to inject a little real democracy into the way the borough is run.
It has earned the gratitude of many grassroots organisations which have struggled against the local authority steamroller intent on implementing policies against residents’ best interests.
One of those organisations is Camden Public Libraries Users Group (CPLUG). Without the help the CNJ gave us, Camden would have lost a large number of its public libraries about 10 years ago.
Since then, Camden Council has been rather wary of similar exercises, but the idea is still popular with local government officers (reducing services is easier than improving efficiency). Every few months a council somewhere announces a library closure programme. The latest borough to consider this is uncomfortably close to home – Brent.
Hopefully, members will have the good sense to ignore the recommendation. It does, however, reinforce the feeling that the CNJ will be needed again in the future to help defend Camden’s few remaining cultural assets.
ALAN TEMPLETON
Chairman, Camden Public Libraries Users Group
Honeybourne Road, NW6
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