By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Councillors will discuss alternative proposals which could see three Nottingham libraries saved from permanent closure.
Nottingham City Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet on August 3 to discuss the proposals before a final decision is made by the council’s leadership in the autumn.
The libraries which could be closed are Radford/Lenton Library, Basford Library and Aspley Library. The closures would save the authority £233,000 over the next three years.
Residents have carried out a series of protests outside the affected libraries this year during a council consultation on the plans.
Two Labour councillors, Cllr Anne Peach and Cllr Hassan Ahmed, who represent the Radford area, have also gone against their own party’s proposals. They are calling for the Radford/Lenton library to be saved.
They say the much-loved centre is in an area of deprivation and shutting it will rip out “the heart and soul of the local community”.
The leader of Nottingham City Council, Cllr David Mellen, blamed the council’s financial situation for the proposals and said it is not a decision he wants to make.
The council also says the city will have a brand new Central Library after it recently approved £10.5 million to fit out the new facility, built as part of the Broadmarsh car park development.
The meeting on August 3 will consider the responses, feedback and analysis from the consultation on the proposed closures and make recommendations to help shape the final decisions made by the Executive Board in the autumn.
As part of the consultation, a number of options have been put forward as alternatives to closure.
The council says these proposals would require further work and exploration. They include:
- A ‘community delivery model’ – This involves a library being managed by community partners or volunteers.
- Shared use of community buildings – This involves a shared use of Nottingham City Council owned and managed local community buildings operating a library offer within a shared space.
- Asset transfer to a third party – Through sale or long-term lease, that could include the provision for a publicly accessible library offer.
- Technology Enabled Opening (TEO) – This will enable a library to be accessible while unstaffed on site. Entry to the library would be via a library card and Pin, with CCTV aiding security and self-service machines/computers to allow usage without staff.
- Redistribution of opening hours across the network – reducing the hours the libraries are open to the public to make savings.
Papers for the meeting state: “A number of operational, financial and project delivery risks have been highlighted against the alternative options for the three libraries. These need to be carefully considered in pursuing any of the options outlined.
“In summary, the legislation does not specify the number of libraries to be provided in any area and challenges made to the secretary of state over closures in other cities have confirmed that the meaning of ‘comprehensive and efficient’ is to be interpreted in the context of availability of resources, it does not necessarily mean that every resident must live close to a library.”
