The Forum Opening

So The Forum formally opened it's doors yesterday and I am delighted that it has received such an enthusiastic welcome from library users and students alike. It really is an amazing building and should act as a real flagship for Southend's Library Service moving forward. I was also fortunate enough to attend the opening lecture in the Forum's impressive lecture theatre from famous scientist Prof Brian Cox. He certainly lived up to his reputation delivering a fascinating and amusing lecture on the creation of the universe, big bang and his work on the Hadron Collider. I am not pretending that I fully grasped all the detail but it was absorbing. The 4 party group leaders were all fortunate to be give a precious ticket for the event with the majority being available to the public on a first come first served basis. Slightly surprised that Cllr Martin Terry announced at the last minute that he wouldn't attend because he didn't want to cross the few protestors outside complaining about library cuts. Still the night wasn't wasted as at least he got his picture in the Echo along with the other protestors but I do wonder whether he ensured that his ticket was used by one of the unlucky residents who missed out on a ticket. I suspect that such a move would have ensured that his evening was not wasted. If he wants to avoid any savings being delivered by the library service perhaps he would like to suggest some alternative source of savings. In the meantime we will continue to deliver well thought out economies which will safeguard a borough wide library service going forward to complement the excellent Forum.