When the London Borough was created, I had already started secondary school and moved on to the senior library, and the deterioration in the service at Coulsdon was almost immediately apparent. Branch rotation of books seemed to slow down or stop completely. Yards of formerly full shelves remained empty: the stocks of non-fiction were particularly suffering. It was clear that the Coulsdon & Purley libraries were not a priority for the LBoC. My parents stopped borrowing on a regular basis and so did I. Dad joined Camden Libraries (where he worked). Croydon Central library had now to be visited to get the sort of stuff I wanted and I became a weekly visitor to the Gramophone Record Library (in a shack round the back of the main building).

Then the Central Library (including the records) moved to what had been Ebbutts furniture shop beside the new flyover. This remained well stocked and staffed until I left the area in 1971. By this time, it had become fairly pointless to attend any of the branch libraries: Coulsdon was like a ghost ship.

Libraries are essential, not a luxury. Coulsdon & Purley realized this but Croydon never did. Branch libraries in particular are important for those who are too young, too old, or are employed away from, and cannot easily use, the centre of Croydon.

I fully support any effort to restore the esteem in which a first-class library service should be held, and thoroughly deplore the out-sourcing of this public service to a commercial business and the de-professionalization of the staff.

The poor book stock does not affect just the children’s sections of libraries either but appears to be across the board, with odd book selections made for new titles added to the collection, and patchy coverage within a series, rendering the rest of the series unusable.

I have no doubt that a considerable factor in this is a drastic reduction in funding. The most significant factor though, must be the loss of so many experienced and qualified library workers and librarians. Librarians and experienced library workers provided a brilliant library service to the Croydon community in the past.

When we had dedicated teams for each library and a children’s librarian in each of our libraries, the staff knew and served the community well. Children’s librarians did outreach work with schools, promoting the library offer, liaised re book stock to support the curriculum offered in local schools, and offered exciting activities and author visits to engage children. All this has been lost.

And whatever happened to the promise that Croydon Labour would rip up the contract with Carillion? Whatever happened to their promise of transparency? We are still waiting to receive details of the contract…..

Croydon libraries, like all public libraries, should serve the needs of the local communities. Croydon libraries are failing to do this now, on so many levels. Who is going to hold Carillion to account? And if this is a failure of the previous Tory administration, why would Croydon Labour not take the earliest opportunity to highlight this – the opportunity to throw their hands up and declare it is not their fault?

And I salute the remaining staff in Croydon libraries as they continue to deliver the best they can under what must be extremely difficult circumstances. Many of their colleagues have lost their jobs, often with little notice.

Croydon library service is in crisis and has been for some time.

Croydon Labour has failed to deliver. They need to do more, and not just push the flawed cooperative volunteer model of Lambeth.

Our libraries need to be properly staffed and stocked as well as accessible.

A small cohort of Croydon school students has highlighted this issue well. My hope is that the current administration has a major rethink and embarks of a proper consultation.

If you wish to follow or support the campaign, see @SaveCroydonLibs on Twitter and Save Croydon Libraries Campaign http://soslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/

I share your love for books and reading. I too grew up in a house full of books, but nothing like the number you had access to though, and with no personal copy of Encyclopaedia Britannica. We used the local library and the school library for this and for access to a wide range of reading material to support our learning and for leisure.

I still live in a house filled with books, with far too many for the shelves, yet we regularly use libraries as a family. And my daughters regularly choose to work in school and public libraries rather than at home. And this is despite them having access at home to a private space and ready access to internet. Many don’t!