Plans to move Public Lending Right (PLR) from Stockton on Tees to Boston Spa with the loss of local jobs in the area and do a disservice to its heritage, according to Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham.
The British Library are planning a range of what they describe as improvements including incorporating remote e-book public library loans into the scheme, capturing loans data for all types of books directly from public libraries, exploring options for automating enrolment of authors books, and upgrading the PLR infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the British Library have associated these improvements with moving the PLR from its current office at Stockton on Tees to the Library’s main site at Boston Spa.
In his letter to the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Alex wrote:
“It has been brought to my attention that there is a proposal from the British Library to move the PLR (Public Lending Rights) service from Stockton on Tees to Boston Spa with the loss of well-paid local jobs to our local community and economy.
“Sadly the British Library have failed to consult locally but have instead issued a note to employees. I was wondering whether you had been told about this proposed change and consulted about it.
“I hope though that you will go a step further forward and intervene in order to stop the removal of the PLR office from Stockton where the service, said by authors to be excellent, was born and developed.”
Commenting on his letter, Alex said:
“The PLR was born and developed in Stockton, it has an excellent reputation, and the backing of authors. In today’s modern world with advance technology, I don’t believe that there is such a need for this transfer and the people employed in our home town are every bit as capable of delivering improvements as anyone else.”
Once I receive a response from the Secretary of State, I will share it with my constituents.”
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For more information please contact Alex Cunningham on 01642 345291.
