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Tauranga City Council’s proposal to dispose of the city’s mobile library service is being firmly resisted in the Ten Year Plan submissions’ process.
The council has received a total of 171 submissions in opposition to the plan to scrap the library, and five supporting the mobile library sale.
The council is this week hearing submissions on its proposal to sell the mobile library service.
The proposal to sell the library is made as a cost saving measure.
Former councillor Mary Dillon added her voice to the opposition at the submissions process saying she doesn’t believe the proposal will save the council as much money as they anticipate.
“The allocated costs would have to go somewhere and the staff as well,” says Mary.
Mary says the mobile library is an important asset to the community, especially for citizens from lower decile schools and the elderly people, who are no longer able to drive.
“For a lot of elderly the mobile library service is their only social contact, and it keeps them from being very lonely people,” says Mary.
Mary says For many the chat with mobile library staff while they pick up and return their books is their only social contact.
Mary says for many elderly residents the mobile library is the only return on their rates investment, and doubts any of them will use other city amenities like the TECT Arena at Baypark, which council has invested $25million in.
“It is a comparatively insignificant cost, yet it makes a lot of difference to quite a large number of people in Tauranga,” says Mary.
“There needs to be equity in the council’s long term decision making, especially in a long term plan.”
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Posted on 11-05-2012 09:17 | By Phailed
His point about it not saving money is a good one, as the "savings" are just going to be sucked up into the rest of the library empire. But I think his comments about councillors seeming to know better than users the needs of library staff and users need challenge. If you took that same "logic" and applied it to the Art Gallery or Baypark or wherever, ratepayers would simply pay out millions to satisfy the expectations of say the Gallery users. Not a good way to save money I’d have thought. But then again Cr Guy and his councillors have thrown a $5 million "loan" to Baypark, so I guess they’re not too concerned about money matters??