Lincolnshire County Council has outlined its proposals to turn Caistor Library into a community hub staffed by volunteers.
Caistor is one of 40 libraries in Lincolnshire that is likely to depend on volunteers from the end of September 2015.
A grant of £15,000 will help pay for any necessary set-up changes, plus there will be additional funding of £5,167 per year for running costs, guaranteed for four years.
Lincolnshire County Council will be seeking an external organisation to manage the county’s services from April 2016. The organisation will be required to give support for the community hubs.
If an organisation is not found, the county council will continue to deliver support with its own staff.
The library changes across Lincolnshire, agreed last week, are aimed at providing savings of nearly £2 million.
If volunteers cannot be found to run the community hubs, mobile libraries might replace them, according to press reports.
The community hubs will receive ongoing professional support, free library stock and the systems to manage it, and free support to provide computers for public use, said the county council.
There are also plans to provide a website and ‘virtual catalogue’ (also available as a smartphone app), giving access to services 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, plus a telephone help service, offering access to people who are not online or who are uncomfortable with using apps.
Volunteers at Caistor will also need to raise more funds to keep the library going at the Arts and Heritage Centre long term, according to Manager Stephanie Dale – but Caistor Library is safe for now, she added.
“Despite what amounts to a cut in funding, Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre volunteers and management have agreed to take over the running of the Lincolnshire County Council library in the town,” said Ms Dale in a statement. “The £5,000 grant will represent a cut in our funding as the present arrangement with the County Council is in the region of £11,000 a year.
“The Centre has been identified as a flagship model for community-run libraries nationally. However, to make the centre and library sustainable Caistor’s volunteers and management need to find a further £6000-£10,000 a year to cover the running costs.
“Facing up to reality, it is possible the library in Caistor will not last for ever without additional funding being found, so the Centre is now looking for sponsors or benefactors to help support the costs of providing a secure future for the library.”
Caistor Library currently has 25 volunteers who give 55 hours per month of their time in the library, said Ms Dale. “When the centre fully takes over the service in the next few months they will need more volunteers to cover the additional hours which are currently worked by LCC staff.”
David Redfearn, who has been a library volunteer since it opened in 2011 and looks after the volunteers’ rota, said: “Local people are willing to give up their time to volunteer in the library, but we do struggle with covering weekends. If anyone has some time on their hands we would very much like to hear from them. Volunteering is extremely rewarding and is a great way to meet people and learn new skills as well as giving something back to your community.”
If you would like to find out how to support the library either financially or by giving your time, please contact Stephanie Dale, Centre Manager, on 01472 851605, or email her at centre manager@28ploughhill.co.uk
Photograph: Flashback to 2013 by Jessica Wall
Do you know it grieves me that I don’t support a Caistor facility but the lack of parking (I live in Nettleton ) a dispute with Lincoln library service over something which happened well over a year ago and still waiting for positi ve response despite my calls the fact that the books are not changed often enough the lack of a good range of reference books means I visit and belong to Immingham library. Brilliant choice pleasant staff and no fines for pensioners