 |
Kettering & Wellingborough Liberal DemocratsWorking for you, all year round - not just at election time! |
'Don't visit our libraries' says County Council
June 27, 2006 10:24 PM
Northamptonshire County Council wants fewer people to use its libraries, a report to Thursday's full council meeting reveals.
The council meeting will be asked to approve a Best Value Performance plan that sets targets for the quality and use of County Council services. The plan demonstrates that they want to reduce the number of people visiting the County libraries, lengthen waiting times for books and reduce service standards.
Last year there were 6,493 visits to the library per 1,000 of the population, ie an average of 6.5 visits per person during the year. Next year, the council wants an average of only 4.95 visits per person, a drop in library usage of over 23%.
The Tory run council also expect to see only 4 library service standards achieved next year, compared with 7 last year, and people will be waiting longer for books. Fewer requests for books will be met within 7 days (down from 69.2% to 50%).
The council has already managed to reduce the number of children using our libraries. Last year (2004/05) 21,171 children participated in out of school activities in libraries, this year (2005/06) the figure is 15,796, a drop of over 25%.
'The Tory plan for libraries is clear' said Richard Church, leader of the Lib Dem group. 'They tried to close rural libraries earlier this year but were forced to back down in the face of public opposition, so they cut the opening hours of all the libraries instead. Now they want a poorer service, and fewer people visiting our libraries so they can come back for another round of cuts next year.'
ENDS
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats