Campaigners slam plans to cut Ellesmere Library opening hours
Campaigners fighting to save Ellesmere's under-threat library have slammed fresh plans to reduce opening hours as part of cost-cutting measures.
Under proposed plans,
.
It would mean the library closing on Saturday afternoons and staying open no later than 5pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, the only other days when the service is available.
A six-week public consultation is under way, giving people a chance to have their say on the council's proposal to reduce library opening hours countywide.
But the Friends of Ellesmere Library, which has 170 members, says cutting hours is a "step backwards".
Ellesmere Library was due to be relocated from Fullwood House to the nearby Meres Day Centre by July, but this date has now been put back after no group came forward to take on the running of the centre.
Officials from Shropshire Council are now holding informal discussions with potentially interested parties to find an organisation to run the centre.
The authority decided last December to relocate the library to the day centre as part of its programme to achieve budget savings in the face of cuts in central government funding.
Kate Westgate, secretary of the Friends of Ellesmere Library, said: "When the council consulted people last year, they said that keeping the library at Fullwood House, under local authority control, would mean halving the opening hours from 20.5 to ten hours a week.
"The service specification document for relocating to the Meres clearly stated that the operator would be expected to maintain the current hours at 20.5 and even look at the potential for increasing them.
"The announcement that the council now wants to cut opening hours undermines this. It sends completely the wrong message to anyone interested in running the library at the day centre.
"The friends' committee feel a sense of betrayal at the way in which the council now appears to be reneging on previous assurances.
"Apart from the reduction in hours, we are also concerned that staffing levels at the Meres will be less than at present, due to a decision not to fill a current staff vacancy at the library.
"We feel that all of this goes against the council's vision of creating a vibrant, exciting and dynamic facility at the Meres.
"Opening hours have been reduced before. Each time it happens, there are fewer opportunities to visit the library. Usage declines and so the hours are cut again. It's a vicious circle that we fear will eventually lead to the total closure of our library.
"There is no doubt that Ellesmere Library is much-loved and much-valued. It is a happy, haven for people of all ages; a place of wonder and learning for our children and a vital facility for the elderly and vulnerable to meet and enjoy social inter-action. We must fight to save it. "
The group is now seeking further talks with Shropshire council officials, local councillor Anne Hartley and Ellesmere Town Council.
They are also urging people to register their views by July 5 during the six week consultation by going to: https://new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/library-opening-times-review
The changes will also affect libraries at Oswestry, Gobowen, Bayston Hill, Bridgnorth, The Lantern (Harlescott), Ludlow, Market Drayton, Much Wenlock, Shrewsbury, Wem and Whitchurch.
The authority says the changes have been drawn up based on usage statistics which show a 26 per cent decline in the number of people visiting libraries in the county, as well as a 19 per cent five-year drop in the total number of borrowers.
