Signatures 1975 total
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Name: Annabel McLaren on Aug 20, 2010Comments: Sydenham Library opened in 1904. It is up to us to safeguard it for future generations! There must be some other way that the Council can save the comparatively small amount of money that's needed to keep the library open. Closing it would amount to an act of cultural vandalism.Flag
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Name: Barry Milton on Aug 20, 2010Comments: There are a number of options for cuts which should be considered before shutting local libraries - reorganisation of senior management (politicians and officers) for a start.Flag
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Name: Emma Tarling on Aug 20, 2010Comments: The library plays an important part in children's education, especially when local schools rely so much on them. The under 5's group is extremely popular and for many locals, the first introduction to story-telling and learning about books. A large percentage of these locals are non-English speaking refugees and seek help in teaching their children English before school age, which takes pressure off Early Years teachers.Flag
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Name: Jackie Aldridge on Aug 20, 2010Comments: Lower Sydenham is currently being regenerated with a large number of housing planned. It makes no sense therefore to cut community facilities there.Flag
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Name: Councillor Liam Curran on Aug 20, 2010Comments: Sydenham Library is a vital local resource that is so much more than a building and more than just a library. It is part of the glue that keeps our community together. I am sure that there is a solution.Flag
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Name: Anthony Scully on Aug 20, 2010Comments: I wish to protest against the proposed closure of Sydenham Library. This valuable community resource has been serving the people of Sydenham on its current site since 1904. It receives regular visits from local primary schools, nurseries and community groups, such as the Friends of Home Park. This is particularly relevant in view of recent tragic events in Home Park. It also hosts community-based workshops for young people: eg the current film-making workshop in association with the Sydenham Arts Festival. It is also used by senior citizens and families with young children. Both these groups would find it difficult to travel to either Catford or Forest Hill libraries, the nearest alternative library facilities. The proposed closure would leave a gap in the facilities of the Lower Sydenham area."Flag
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Name: Mary McKernan on Aug 20, 2010Comments: Andrew Carnegie was born in poverty. Despite a lack of formal schooling, he was determined to read as much as he could and educate himself. Through his own efforts he become one of the richest yet most philanthropic men of his day. He said: "There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.” He donated most of his fortune to help others to help themselves. One of the ways he did this was by founding public libraries. Sydenham Library is a Carnegie Library. It stands in an area of desperate need, with precious few community facilities. It has helped hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people achieve their potential: including my father. Built in 1904, it has survived two world wars, rate capping, Mrs Thatcher and the neglect of the local authority, who have tried to close it in the past and have starved it of funds. Sadly, it may not survive the current Lewisham administration, who wish to close it for short-term and ill-thought out financial reasons. It will cost far more financially in other parts of the budget if this library closes: loss of hope and opportunity, leading to social and health problems. We need to cherish and save this vital resource. Once it is lost, it is lost forever.Flag
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Name: Ray Bravo on Aug 20, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Lee Newham on Aug 20, 2010Comments: The library is located right next to Home Park which has recently seen two stabbings, one fatal. It serves Bellingham and Sydenham. The Library is an important part of the regeneration of the area. Grandparents, children, mums, dads, schools and community groups all use it, from all backgrounds. Please find the money from somewhere else. Lower Sydenham needs this valuable resource. Please do NOT close our library. Please do NOT let us down. It will cost too much to close it to the community to which the council is supposed to serve.Flag
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Name: Ms S Ahmed on Aug 21, 2010Comments: I oppose the closure of Sydenham Library. It is an essential community resource, is very well used by local residents - young and old - and is a treasured feature of Sydenham. To lose it would be tragic for the the local community.Flag
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Name: Ariana Palacios on Aug 21, 2010Comments: Please do NOT close this library, it means too much to us. This part of london needs it.Flag
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Name: Helen Armstrong on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Miss Deano Gilbert on Aug 21, 2010Comments: I use Forest Hill library mostly because I live closer to it in Upper Sydenham, but Sydenham library is needing investment its a helpful library to everyone in Lower Sydenham and those who want a library when on the High Street. You have my FULL SUPPORT!Flag
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Name: Pat Trembath on Aug 21, 2010Comments: In addition to other comments. Sydenham Library and Home Park are a focal point of Lower Sydenham, which includes Bellingham and Perry Vale. A lot of hard work has been done by local residents and by Lewisham Council to improve the facilities provided by Home Park. An empty building, boarded up alongside the park, will reverse all these efforts and reduce the footfall in this area, making the park a lot less atttractive and safe.Flag
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Name: Steve Grindlay on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Tim Lund on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Kerry Fox on Aug 21, 2010Comments: Libraries and reading are the gateway to the future Without the ability and enjoyment of reading, self-progression is inordinately difficult. Sydenham Library is located in an area where young people and parents struggle. Books are expensive and - as your actions show - are considered a luxury in an age when people struggle to feed & clothe themselves and their children and keep their homes warm. If they cant get books at the library and cant afford to buy them - how do they equip their children with a love of reading that's an essential lifeskill? I come from a very working class family who faced the same issues. We couldnt afford to go on holiday and had limited access to the world and its richness and variety. But I had a mother who took me every week to the library and who instilled in me a love of reading. I had access to the thoughts and views of people I would never otherwise have access to, via the written word, and became far worldlier than my family's otherwise narrow experience might otherwise have influenced. I was - as a consequence - the first member of my family to go to university; the brightest child in my schools and had a reading age twice that of my own. All of this is due to my mother's access to a library and her fundamental understanding of its importance. Things for some of the kids in Home Park are very tough. Please dont make it tougher for them by removing this essential serviceFlag
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Name: Michelle Dayman on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Bryan Leslie on Aug 21, 2010Comments: I quote - "...libraries and adult learning are not defined by bricks and mortar; they are about communities and people. It is the activity that takes place, and the importance that it has for people, that is at the heart of the value of adult learning and libraries" The above statement was made in 2009 by the Lewisham Mayor's Commission on Library Services in Lewisham. It would be a betrayal of the community in Lower Sydenham if the Council were to close the libraryFlag
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Name: Olatunde on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Annabel Sidney on Aug 21, 2010Comments: Libraries are a valuable community resource and should be supported and nurtured - not shut down! The council should look carefully at both the direct and indirect benefits of keeping the library open and explore alternative funding options.Flag
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Name: Anonymous on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Anonymous on Aug 21, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Ilse Jane Towler on Aug 22, 2010Comments: The library also serves as a resource for people who have no internet access at home, and for those seeking work or completing on-line job applications. It is the Council's sole building, in a deprived area, apart from the housing office, and the Bridge leisure centre. It has synergy with the revitalisation of Home Park. its closure or relocation would cause difficulties for children from the four primary schools, nearby, who can visit it on foot. The rebuilding at bell green will create a larger client base for the library.Flag
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Name: Vivien Lund on Aug 22, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Anonymous on Aug 22, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Sarah Wallace on Aug 22, 2010Comments: There is nothing like seeing, reading and being able to borrow a book, this is an english tradition, that needs to stay. the people that really need it the elderly and disabled find it difficult to travel and this closure will cut them off more!Flag
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Name: James Morgan on Aug 22, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Niko Falzarano on Aug 22, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Paul Harrington on Aug 22, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Mrs Suman Hughes on Aug 23, 2010Comments: I use Sydenham library at least once every week, it is one of the few council tax funded facilities in Lewisham I do use.Flag
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Name: Karen Jonason on Aug 23, 2010Comments: I fully support the campaign to save Sydenham Library from closure. I started the e-petition for Crofton Park Library, which, like Sydenham, is in an historic building and of a similar age.Flag
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Name: Tasha on Aug 23, 2010Comments: OMG save the librrary!!!!! I used to go here as a child!!!Flag
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Name: Alistair Baker on Aug 23, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Mrs Margaret Leslie on Aug 23, 2010Comments: The Council yet again demonstrates its failure to recognise the social and cultural value of the buildings in its care, a failure that leads to its neglect of these buildings so that the Council then feels justified in getting rid of them on grounds of the costs needed to make good its neglect.Flag
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Name: Paul Cook on Aug 23, 2010Comments: As a big supporter of local shops and amenities I think the loss of a library would be a blow to the area.Flag
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Name: Emily Berryman on Aug 23, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Raphael Giannandrea on Aug 23, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Janine Minchin on Aug 23, 2010Comments: Sydenham library is a community resource that not only allows everyone access to books, but also provides a quiet space for reading /study/research etc. as well as a place to search for and apply for jobs (especially for those who don’t have either space or facility at home). It’s clear that public spending has to be cut locally, but in a time of recession surely this is a resource that should be a priority to keep.Flag
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Name: Dawn Leach on Aug 23, 2010Comments: our children need libraries save money elsewhere not our childrens futureFlag
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Name: Louise Brooks on Aug 23, 2010Comments: Its hard to believe the short-sightedness of the council: once the libraries have gone there is no getting them back. It smacks of Beeching and the railways in the 60s, and consider the legacy there.Flag
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Name: Chris Baker on Aug 23, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Caroline Bennett on Aug 24, 2010Comments: Sydenham Library serves a particularly deprived part of the borough. It should not be closed but instead receive investment to offer vital resources to those who need it most. Forest Hill library, which is located in a relatively more affulent area, received huge investment recently, why not Sydenham? Forest Hill library is already very busy and offers little space for quiet study. The situation can only get worse there if Sydenham's facilities are closed.Flag
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Name: Daniel Bennett on Aug 24, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Leeman Robinson on Aug 24, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Andrew Smith on Aug 24, 2010Comments: Why on earth are we not able to sustain libraries in the 21st century. In the weeks when students have again hit the headlines with record exam passes we are contemplating depriving communities of vital resources. As we heard the library is a vital lifeline for local parents and their families in an area of deprivation. We can afford deadly weapons, and expenditure on war and occupation. We have bailed out the collapsing banks and returned money in the the shape of dividends, profits and bonuses to the 'undeserving' greedy. This is a retreat from civilisation into barbarism. We pay for our services through taxation. Sydenham Library belongs to us not to local and central government. I expect local councillors to campaign for it on the streets and to oppose the closure in the council chamber, nothing less. I shall not accept any more hand on my bleeding heart pleas from them. Do whatever is necessary to stop this nonsense. We are not in this all together.Flag
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Name: John Russell on Aug 24, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Sarah Collins on Aug 24, 2010Comments: The loss of Sydenham library would have a far deeper impact on the community than it would on the council's balance sheet. There are so few places of refuge already in Sydenham, closing the library would remove opportunities for local children and leave another building potentially derelict. If the librabry is closed, it will never be reopened.Flag
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Name: Stuart Collins on Aug 24, 2010Comments:Flag
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Name: Hanna Azevedo on Aug 24, 2010Comments:Flag