Village celebrates as library is reopened
PARBOLD Library has become the second in the county to be reopened to the public after being closed for more than a year.
It marked another milestone in Lancashire County Council’s programme to reopen libraries.
The library was reopened on Tuesday, November 21 by County Councillor Peter Buckley, cabinet member for community and cultural services and Cllr May Blake, who represents Parbold for West Lancashire Borough Council.
Following the closure of 26 of the county’s 73 libraries by the county council towards the end of 2016, a new administration was elected in May, and decided to re-open as many libraries as possible.
Plans have been agreed in recent months for the phased reopening of libraries, with Parbold being the second after Silverdale library in the north of Lancashire earlier this month, with many others due to follow.
County Cllr Buckley said: “Local libraries are a vital service at the heart of our communities, providing free access to books, information, and the internet for leisure and learning alike.
“Parbold is a large village and people here value their library very highly as it provides these important services on their doorstep.
“We’re committed to reopening libraries wherever they’ve been closed, and I’m very pleased to be able to reopen Parbold Library and restore this service to the village.”
Cllr Blake said: “Parbold Library provides an excellent service and has always been well used, whether by those going in to browse for an interesting read, people needing to access the internet, or children and parents working their way through everything by the child’s favourite author.
“People here really value Parbold Library and I’m very pleased to be here today to see it reopen.”
“We couldn’t be happier to have it back again.”
Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has so far made decisions to reopen 13 libraries, and agreed to transfer the ownership of a further six libraries to local organisations which will operate them as independent community libraries. Opening hours for Parbold Library are: Monday, closed. Tuesday, 9am-5pm. Wednesday, 9am-1pm. Thursday, 9am-7pm. Friday, 9am-5pm. Saturday, 9am-1pm.
Find more about the libraries and archives at www.lancashire.gov.uk/ libraries.