City could save pounds 2m-plus on libraries, claims expert; Savings could be made without losing opening hours or books.

Byline: DEBORAH JAMES Daily Post Staff

LIVERPOOL has been accused of running an inefficient library service by one of the Government's most respected advisers on public book lending.

Library consultant Tim Coates claimed the city could save at least pounds 2m, possibly pounds 3m, without losing any opening hours or cutting its book-buying budget.

Mr Coates, formerly managing director of Waterstones bookshops, contacted the Daily Post after the newspaper revealed that Liverpool council is preparing to abolish evening opening hours at Central library as part of a pounds 1m cost cutting package.

Last night, he offered to personally go through the city's library services accounts to find alternative savings, after the cuts were widely criticised by the literary community, including Crosby authors Beryl Bainbridge and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Mr Coates told the Daily Post: 'Liverpool's library budget is almost double that of the national average spending on libraries.

'From the figures that are available, it appears the council is running a wholly inefficient service.

'I am certain they could easily save 2-3m without cutting the book-buying budget or losing any opening hours.'

Latest figures from the Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU) show Liverpool spends a total pounds 35.11 per head of population on library services - around 80% more than the national average of pounds 19.50.

The city had a pounds 15.5m budget for libraries in 2004/5, of which just pounds 868,000 (5.6%) is spent on books.

The percetage spent on books has decreased from 6.2% of an overall pounds 14.2m budget in 2003/4 and 7.8% of a total pounds 11.7m budget in 2002/3.

Mr Coates said: 'What Liverpool's main concern should be is what is happening to the other 94% of the budget that is not being spent on books. The problem seems to be that councils are losing sight of what the public actually wants, which is longer opening hours, more books and accessible buildings. Clearly, wastage is happening somewhere.'

On Monday the Daily Post revealed around pounds 250,000 is to be slashed from Central library's book buying fund as part of a scheme that will combine the book budgets of all local libraries.

The facility, on William Brown Street, will also lose around 20 staff posts, although the council has pledged there will be no compulsory redundancies.

Mr Coates was one of four expert panel advisers to a recent Culture Media and Sport Select Committee report on the future of the nation's public libraries, which called for all library's book buying budgets to be increased by 17% to 18%. City council chief executive Sir David Henshaw is a board member of the national Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, which manages the services the Select Committee was called to examine.

He was last night unavailable for comment, but a council spokeswoman said Liverpool's library running costs may be higher than those of other cities due to the age of the buildings which house the service.

She said: 'We are always open to suggestions for how to improve services and reduce the cost to the council's tax payers. We would be interested in any serious proposals which are both viable and can be delivered, but which don't harm the quality of the service we provide.

'It's very easy for people 200 miles away from the city to make judgments, but the real test will come if they produce serious workable proposals.

'We will be delighted to hear what Tim Coates has to say

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CAPTION(S):

Tim Coates; Liverpool's Central Library, which may lose its evening openings