High streets 'will suffer' if libraries shut on Saturday

A BIRMINGHAM business leader has claimed that closing community libraries on Saturdays will hit trade for already embattled retailers.

- JANE HAYNES

Kate Smart, chair of Harborne Village business improvement district (BID) said it was another nail in the coffin of high street traders who rely on leisure and entertainment to lure some families into town to spend their cash.

People need 'reasons to physically visit' because of the rise of online shopping - and visiting the library was one of those reasons, she told a meeting of the full council.

Addressing councillors, Ms Smart railed against the council's cost cutting move to reduce opening hours at libraries across the city, including Harborne. Already closed on Fridays, it will now only open every other Saturday.

It was part of a transformation of community libraries, now integrated with neighbourhood advice centres.

Harborne library was 'one of the most popular and well used in the city,' said Ms Smart. Saturday closures would 'economically damage Harborne High Street on the busiest shopping day of the week,' she said.