Last week, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet approved an approach that, it was claimed, will secure the future of library services in Suffolk retaining the current library network and putting it on a "strong and sustainable footing for the future".
Three options for the central organisation will be considered and a final decision made by Cabinet at its meeting in November. They are;
- An in-house business unit similar to the Schools Library Service.
- An external, but wholly council-owned, company.
- An independent company managed by the county through contractual arrangements.
County Councillor with responsibility for libraries Judy Terry said the service had undergone significant changes over the last few years, but the council was determined to maintain the network.In the meantime, the council will be working to deliver a number of partnership pilots with town or parish councils, community or staff groups keen on running a library - providing them with the flexibility, funding and support to make it a success. Given that a wide range of groups have come forward with proposals to run their own libraries, it is hoped that the pilots will act as a model elsewhere. Community involvement is critical to the success of the vision throughout Suffolk and the council will work with other groups to develop their business plans.
Unfortunately, as far as the more rural communities are concerned, the prospects are not good, with a proposal to change the frequency of mobile visits from fortnightly to monthly. Whilst no decision will be made on mobile libraries until after the views expressed during the public consultation have been taken into account, the expectation is that Creeting St Peter will see a 50% reduction in its mobile library service to just fifteen minutes each month. The proposal will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting in November, whilst full Council in September will debate the best value options and mobile libraries plans.
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