Libraries will be self-service and not 'just about books'

NEW PROVIDER WANTS THREE SITES TO SERVE NEEDS OF THE WIDER COMMUNITY

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

THREE Nottingham libraries will become self-service when the city council hands them over in a move that one campaigner calls “very concerning”.

The company taking over says “it’s not about just about borrowing books” and that it wants the facilities in Aspley, Basford and Bilborough to serve wider community needs.

Castle Cavendish also says it will be pushing for Nottingham City Council to help address the “significant essential repairs” needed at the libraries before taking them on, with the charity hoping to run them from April.

The council first announced plans to close down four libraries in May 2024 as the authority said it was “under immense pressure” to save £1.5 million from the service.

Initial plans would have seen all four sites closed, but Radford-Lenton will now become a “centralised stock hub” with a scaled-down library and the council then confirmed it could hand over Aspley, Basford and Bilborough to Castle Cavendish.

Local authorities are required by law to “provide a comprehensive and efficient library service”, but the boss of Castle Cavendish has now confirmed: “The statutory library service is not something we're going to be implementing.”

Agreements are still being drawn up, but the charity's chief executive says the statutory library service will instead be delivered at the city council's remaining 12 sites.

Dave Brennan, chief executive of Castle Cavendish, said: “We understand that the way people view libraries now is completely different to how they viewed them 30 or 40 years ago.

“It’s not just about borrowing books now, it’s about the IT provision, it’s about the knit and natter groups, it’s about the food banks.