Council may axe half its libraries

Senior councillors in Wakefield will be asked to back a proposal which would see the authority continue to run 13 of its 25 libraries but the rest would be at risk if the proposals are backed.

A report to members of Wakefield Council’s cabinet says compulsory redundancies are likely.

Libraries under threat are: Ackworth, Altofts, Crofton, Havercroft, Kettlethorpe, Kinsley, Middlestown, Outwood, South Kirkby, South Pontefract, Upton and Walton.

If councillors decide to back the proposals when they meet on July 26, the authority will continue to run 13 libraries and a fund would be created to help other organisations deliver satellite services in communities where traditional branch libraries are no longer being widely used.

Coun David Dagger, cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: “How people use libraries has changed.

“New technology means that people may want to reserve and read books online, rather than visit their local library. We have to recognise that in planning our service for the future, this is about providing library services, not just libraries.

“We know that people are not satisfied with the quality of some library buildings, or with the quality and range of the books. And since 1992 more than four out of every 10 library users have stopped going into libraries.”

Interest in supporting the library service had come from a range of organisations, including town and parish councils, social enterprises, a staff co-operative, faith group and community groups.

If the cabinet report is approved, its proposals for the new-style service would go out to a third stage of the public consultation, to collect views on what the service should be like and to build on the interest already being shown by organisations in delivering library services themselves.

The authority needs to save £67m over four years.