Happy 2nd birthday Luton Cultural Services Trust
Yesterday I attended a wonderful event to celebrate the second anniversary of the formation of the Luton Cultural Services Trust.
This independent charitable organisation was formed by Luton Borough Council to run Luton’s libraries, museums, and arts service and to promote the cultural life of the town. Tuesday’s event – ably hosted by the Trust’s Chair, Nick Gibson, and Chief Executive, Maggie Appleton – showcased the work that the Trust has been doing across the town over the past two years and gave partners an opportunity to talk about their experiences of working with the Trust. We had a very mixed range of contributions including from a local theatre group, a local GP, the British Museum, animated video and a brilliant poetry recital from a ten year old user of the town’s libraries.
I have been involved with the Luton Cultural Services Trust from the very beginning, something which I will write about in more detail at some point, but even I was impressed by the breadth and extent of the Trust’s activities. Activities which also mirror the diversity and vibrancy of Luton. The work that the Trust does is really fantastic and I am very proud to be associated with it.
Also attending the event were three of the candidates for Luton South; Liberal Democrat candidate Qurban Hussain, Esther Rantzen (although she had to leave early), and independent Joe Hall.
This content was originally posted on my old Strange Thoughts blog.
2 Comments
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Well you should be really, really ashamed of yourself, especially the way that vast amounts has been spent on making Luton’s library worse to the point of being pretty well unusable. What on earth were you thinking? Why bother with books and shelves when you can have large open spaces?
Let’s hope “Luton Cultural Services Trust” becomes a public spending cut.
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No I shouldn’t. The recent significant refurbishment of the Central Library has been excellent. It has created a modern and comfortable space with a number of improvements, including the creation of a brilliant children’s library. Something that the Trust, and Luton, should be proud of.
You might not like the changes. You are entitled to your opinion, but I think “worse to the point of being pretty well unusable” sounds like a gross exaggeration to me. If you are having dificulty using the library, why not ask one of the excellent and dedicated members of staff for help? Although, if you were able to have your wish for spending cuts, I supposed we would have to sack many of them.