Library opening hours cut to save cash

Changes to library hours

Opening hours at libraries across the district will be slashed, Kent County Council has confirmed.

The decision was made on Thursday following a consultation over a three-year strategy aimed at saving close to £1m.

Under the plans, Canterbury’s library in the Beaney will have its hours reduced from 55 a week to 42, while Whitstable’s will drop from 59 to 43, and Herne Bay’s will open for 42 hours - a drop of 11.

At Faversham’s library, opening times will plummet from 53 hours to 42 - a slight change from the original proposal to cut them to 37.

Elsewhere, Aylesham library’s hours will drop by seven, from 30 to 23, while Sturry and Swalecliffe’s sites will both plunge by 17 hours, from 40 to 23.

KCC cabinet member Cllr Mike Hill heard that the majority of the 5,547 responses to the 10-week public consultation had been in favour of the plans, which will broadly see staff time and opening hours allocated to libraries that are most used.

However, Cllr Hill heard that the data supporting the proposal had been updated in the meantime, which resulted in longer opening hours for 12 of the libraries than had originally been suggested, including Faversham.

The authority hopes the measures will save £960,000 over the next two years, but all 99 libraries in Kent will remain open.

Customers will not notice any changes until the autumn. In the meantime, there will be local consultations to decide the exact opening times customers would like to see.

Cllr Hill said: “This strategy offers a sustainable future for the Libraries, Registration and Archive service in the context of the challenging financial situation for Kent County Council.

“Unlike many other local authorities, Kent is committed to keeping all its libraries open if possible and, while I have heard the understandable concerns raised about the reduction of library opening hours, difficult decisions have to be taken.”

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