COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The future opening hours of 16 libraries in Warwickshire have been decided after a public consultation.



The county council said it had nearly 9,000 responses to its survey which put forward two possible options for each of the local authority-run libraries.

It said the votes were counted and the most popular option for each site* would be introduced from 1 April 2012.

The changes are part of the council's plan to save £2m from its Library and Information Service budget.

Two other council-run libraries were not included in the recent consultation.

Warwick Library is relocating to the county council's headquarters in February so its opening hours will match those of Shire Hall.

Stockingford Library's opening hours will fit in with those of Stockingford Early Years Centre which is on the same site.

Councillor Colin Hayfield, Warwickshire County Council portfolio-holder for customers, access and physical assets said: "We took the decision that our customers will decide the opening hours of the libraries.

"Thanks to the thousands of responses we received we believe we are meeting the needs of the communities with the new opening hours."

In October 2011, the council said 16 other libraries would only remain open if run by community groups.

It said it was continuing to work "closely" with groups around the county to develop new the community libraries which should be open by 1 April 2012.

Warwick Library move will not impact events

GROUPS meeting at Warwick Library have been assured that they will not face the axe in the premises move.

The moving of Warwick Library from Barrack Street to Shire Hall is currently underway but fears had been raised that the new base would be too small for groups to meet.

Jean Taylor is a regular member of the coffee club that meets at the Barrack Street library and had raised concerns about the future of the club.

She said: “The library is going to close for a few weeks but obviously we don’t think there’s going to be a room set aside for any talks.

“It’s difficult to know how much room there will be once the books are in, and there are usually 20 or more that go to every meeting.

“We have had talks from Graham Sutherland and David Howe, local people who give up their time to speak to us. We’ve had a good steady following and it’s not just for women, it’s for anybody.

“It is good it being in the daytime because a lot of people don’t like going out on their own at night. I live in Leek Wootton but I come in on the bus and then get to go into Warwick and have a look round.

“They resource books from the library linked to what the talk has been about, flower arranging for example, so it gets people using the library.

“At last weeks meeting there were 26 of us who enjoyed flower arranging. Due to re-location of the library it was our last meeting unless a room can be found within Shire Hall.”

However, Warwickshire County Council has moved to allay any fears that the coffee group, or any others, will be left homeless.

A spokeswoman said: “The library, and therefore the group, will be closed for a short time after which point the regular programme of events will continue. We will be writing to all coffee club members.”

More information on the programme of events with the library move is expected to be revealed by the council within the next two weeks.