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UK librarians condemn deal between SCL and Home Office

In the UK, 80 library professionals have signed an open letter to condemn a contract deal between the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) and Home Office (HO) that will see 56 libraries provide support services for the HO division of UK Visas and Immigration, reports the Bookseller.

Under the service contract, staff would provide online access to visa applicants and help them to submit documents and biometric data for visa applications. However, the Radical Librarians Collective issued an open letter urging library workers to resist the program, saying that ‘creeping normalisation and increased presence of HO divisions in public libraries which will actively work against the creation of an inclusive and diverse public library service’.

The collective believes HO would ‘take advantage of the largely open, inclusive and supportive role of public libraries, to attract undocumented or otherwise vulnerable people’ and cited an example where the sharing of confidential patient information helped HO locate and deport undocumented people.

A spokesperson for SCL told the Bookseller the organisation believes the contract was an ‘important initiative’ and ‘Library staff will not be involved in any part of the decision making on applications, be required to give immigration advice or know the results of any applications.’

Ian Anstice, librarian and editor of Public Libraries News, added that the contract could challenge the traditional role of libraries and … if handled improperly, dent their neutrality.

 

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Category: Library news International