Sir – I regularly visit Kennington Library and am aware of impending changes caused by the financial cuts affecting us all.
The proposed changes would reduce the services of the present professional library managers and recruiting volunteers to work in their place.
The intention to use volunteers raises important practical issues. Is it legal to replace trained professional workers with inexperienced, unqualified persons serving in a public place, perhaps on their own. What are the implications regarding insurance?
Age of volunteers — the majority would be retired persons who may be subject to age-related problems affecting their attendance at any appointed time and at short notice. What happens on these occasions — library closure?
Are volunteers to receive adequate training to enable them to give a good service with regard to book knowledge, IT skills, health and safety requirements, customer relations and coping with any emergency situation which might occur?
Following training, is there to be an assessment procedure to ensure that those seeking to fill this role are indeed suitable?
These are important practical issues and I trust Oxfordshire County Council will give them due consideration.
Rosalie Whiteley, Kennington
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