‘Detailed discussions’ taking place with company to take on three Nottingham libraries
Historic Aspley Library could close its doors to the public under council plans to save money
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Detailed discussions have been held with a social enterprise company that could take on three Nottingham city libraries.
Castle Cavendish, which oversees a £2.8m property portfolio comprising business centres, retail units, and office space, says it has been talking with Nottingham City Council about taking on management of the Basford, Bilborough and Aspley libraries.
The Labour-run council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt in November 2023, will be cutting £1.5m from its library service over two years in a bid to become more financially sustainable.
It U-turned on plans to completely shut the Basford, Bilborough, Radford-Lenton and Aspley libraries to help cut costs, following a consultation and intense criticism from the campaign group Save Nottingham Libraries.
In January, the authority’s ruling Labour Group decided to keep Radford-Lenton library in-house, and use it as a centralised stock hub, and lease the remaining three libraries to a voluntary organisation to take on management and upkeep of the facilities.
Castle Cavendish, which describes itself as a “social impact company”, says it has been involved in detailed discussions with the council about taking on the three libraries.
Dave Brennan, its chief executive, said: “Over the last six months we have been in detailed discussions with the council about Castle Cavendish taking forward the management of the library buildings in Basford, Bilborough and Aspley.
“Our ambition is to work with partners such as Citizens Advice, to develop these buildings with a wider remit of ‘Community Hubs’ alongside delivering a library provision, combining our track record of managing buildings, generating external funding and supporting local community-run services and activities.
“Our vision is for Nottingham to be a better city with thriving places and spaces, local people reaching their full potential and communities stronger and more resilient than ever before. We believe that taking forward these library buildings will be a step in the right direction in delivering this vision.
“Although much work has been done at this point, no agreement or documents have been signed as yet. If and when they are, we will be making a formal public announcement.”
The company says its mission is “to improve people’s lives in Nottingham, by supporting the local voluntary and business sectors to grow and develop in an ethical and sustainable way”.
Net proceeds from the property base support a programme that tries to address the needs of the city’s communities.
Cllr Sam Lux (Lab), who had overseen the libraries portfolio, previously said: “Following the consultation, several organisations expressed interest in taking over these spaces, at our library and community centre buildings.
“This work is nearing completion, and I hope to soon announce the new groups involved and provide more details on their plans for managing each site moving forward.
“As previously stated, we remain committed to maintaining a sustainable library service for the city and working with communities and various partners to build long-term resilience and support for our library provision.”
Libraries campaigner Des Conway said the preference was to keep all libraries in-house to “maintain a united portfolio of service provision”.
“Hopefully, the City Council will have inserted certain service standards into the new arrangement and may even bring the three libraries back into council control as finances improve,” he added.
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