Squatters reopen Friern Barnet library after council closes service

A few dog-eared copies of novels by Joanna Trollope and Wilbur Smith sit on the otherwise bare shelves of Friern Barnet library alongside banners urging "peace", "occupy" and "revolution". The library closed down by Barnet council in April is under new management.

Eight squatters entered the north London library last week through an open window. Since a law change on 1 September made it a criminal offence to squat residential properties, they have turned to commercial properties to find a bed for the night. The occupation has the blessing of many residents who are delighted to see the locked doors of the library flung open once again. It's the first time that squatters have morphed into "community librarians" by occupying and reopening a public lending resource in this way. Book loans will be manually recorded and stamped.

Council officials have been trying for months to persuade locals enraged by the library closure to become volunteer librarians in a room in a nearby council building instead. The proposal has not been well received: residents want to see their much-loved local library reopened and stalemate has prevailed.

All that changed when the squatters moved in and embarked on unprecedented negotiations with senior council officials about the future of the library.

To everyone's surprise, instead of starting eviction proceedings immediately the council agreed to a series of meetings with the squatters to discuss ways to provide a new, volunteer-run library. Senior council officials including assistant chief executive Julie Taylor were invited to the library on Monday to meet the new occupants who treated them to tea and cakes. Another meeting has been scheduled for next week.

On Tuesday the squatters, who describe themselves as caretakers, are opening for business, lending books for the first time since the council closed the library. While they don't have the knowledge and expertise of trained librarians they have plenty of enthusiasm. They have set up a rota of volunteer librarians so that the library can open four days a week. >

The closure of Friern Barnet library is part of a pattern of library closures nationwide. Barnet council is hoping to save money by no longer employing paid staff at the library and plans to sell off the land on which the library sits to a developer within the next six to 18 months. The Public Libraries News website run by librarian Ian Anstice estimates that nationally 270 libraries have closed or are under threat out of a total of 4,612. Bolton, the Isle of Wight and Lewisham in south-east London have been hit hard by the closures and Surrey has approved plans to remove paid staff from 10 libraries and rely on trained volunteers instead. Brent residents are fighting for the right to run Kensal Rise library which the council has closed.

While Anstice praises the work that volunteers are doing to keep open local libraries, he warns of the alarming effect this is having nationally. "All this makes it easier for councils to divest themselves of libraries and it destroys what is already a very fragmented network. We are facing the worst trend in public library provision in peacetime history," said Anstice.

The libraries minister, Ed Vaizey, has said the government is "not currently minded" to prevent library closures in Bolton, the Isle of Wight and Lewisham. The children's laureate, Julia Donaldson, has written an open letter to the new culture secretary, Maria Miller, condemning library closures.

Mike Gee, a resident campaigning to reopen Friern Barnet library, backs the squatters for achieving what residents, 7,000 of whom have signed a petition protesting about the closure, have so far failed to do. "One action is worth 1,000 words," he said. "I fully endorse what the squatters have done but I am concerned about the situation. Does the council pay a librarian to do an honest day's work or does the council chief executive, who is on 10 times a librarian's salary, get volunteers to do the job for free?"

Another resident, Rosa de Souza, said: "I couldn't believe it when I walked past and saw the library open again. Since it has closed, me and my kids have to get on a bus if we want to borrow a book."

A Barnet council spokeswoman said: "We are still continuing conversations with the protesters but at the same time the council has started the legal process to have the occupants removed. No papers have been served as yet but the council has a duty to protect its public assets. At the same time it wants to continue to have these conversations." One squatter, Pete Phoenix, said: "We want to bring back empty buildings into public use and this is a great example of it. I've learnt many skills over the years as a squatter – roofing, fixing electrics, unblocking toilets; now I can add community librarian to my CV."