Warwickshire News Mine

Meeting
May 10 7pm, The Cabbage Club, Church Road, Stockingford        

Roadshow drop-in sessions    
April 15 3.30 - 6.30pm, Bulkington Library
April 19 2pm - 5pm, Keresley Newland Library
May 6 2pm - 5pm, Camp Hill Library
May 7 11.30am - 2.30pm, Nuneaton Library
May 9 10am - 1pm, Bedworth Heath Library
May 11 all day, Bedworth Mobile Library

Warwickshire County Council launched a 12-week public consultation on March 18 to find out what people think of the proposals for radical change to the county’s library services. Sixteen Warwickshire libraries have been identified as no longer sustainable in their current form, alongside other cost-cutting measures including reduced opening hours, reductions in the workforce and mobile library fleet, and cutting the number of public computers across the library network.

The Library and Information Service must cut spending by £2 million over the next three years as part of Warwickshire County Council’s plans to achieve required savings of £66 million across all services.

Councillor Colin Hayfield, Portfolio-holder for Customers, Workforce and Partnerships, said: “Savings on this scale mean some very tough decisions, and won’t be pain-free. That’s why it is so important for local people to take part in the consultation, and have their say.”

As the library consultation enters its fourth week, 500 questionnaires have already been completed, around half of them online. Consultation roadshows and sessions at public meetings, explaining the proposed changes, have been well-attended.

More information, including the consultation questionnaire, is available in all Warwickshire libraries and online at: warwickshire.gov.uk/facingthechallenge. A ‘blog’ provides news and updates (libraryconsult.wordpress.com) or you can follow the consultation on Twitter (twitter.com/warksdirect).

Link to WCC