Croydon UNISON held a Save Croydon Libraries Rally on Friday 26th February 2020.

This rally was to discuss the threatened closure of 5 libraries within the Croydon borough due to the need for the council to make financial cuts.

These cuts were a result of the council having to issue a Section 114 notice in November 2020 and declare the council bankrupt.

The five libraries affected are Bradmore Green, Broad Green, Sanderstead, Shirley and South Norwood.

The speakers were Dawn Gibbons – Croydon Libraries UNISON rep, Cllr Oliver Lewis – Cabinet member for Culture and Reorganisation and Alan Wylie – UNISON Activist, Library Worker, Campaigner, Workforce Rep on DCMS Libraries Taskforce.

Chris Phelp MP for Croydon South and  Sarah Jones MP for Croydon Central were also invited to speak but due to technical problems we were unable to connect them.

There was a question and answer session after the speakers.

We also had an article published by Tara O’Connor from My London News. Please follow the link:

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/croydon-bust-brand-new-croydon-19942714

Please refer to the Croydon Libraries Consultation for further details: https://getinvolved.croydon.gov.uk/project/678