Hayes & Harlington Gazette

Library to shut due to lack of use

HILLINGDON COUNCIL HAS VOTED TO CLOSE HARLINGTON LIBRARY IN HAYES

- By RORY BENNETT rory.bennett@reachplc.com @mylondon

HILLINGDON Council has voted to close a West London library after it was found that it was one of the least-used in the borough.

Harlington Library in Hayes is situated in Harlington Secondary School, which has seen it mainly used by students.

According to the council, the library has the lowest rates of book borrowing out of the borough’s 17 libraries, which announced its proposed closure back in February.

The building’s decommissi­oning was confirmed in a council meeting on Thursday (May 25), with the library set to close on July 21.

Hillingdon Council has voted to close a West London library after it was found that it was one of the least-used in the borough.

Harlington Library in Hayes is situated in Harlington Secondary

School, which has seen it mainly used by students.

According to the council, the library has the lowest rates of book borrowing out of the borough’s 17 libraries, which announced its proposed closure back in February.

The building’s decommissi­oning was confirmed in a council meeting on Thursday (May 25), with the library set to close on July 21.

The school will provide library services independen­tly from the council so students should not be unduly affected.

To mitigate the impact of the closure on residents, nearby West Drayton Library will have longer opening hours and there will be increased mobile library hours in Pinkwell.

There are also other static alternativ­es on Botwell Green and Uxbridge. The public consultati­on received 84 responses most of which were from residents who use the library on a regular basis.

Despite some saying that alternativ­es were too far away or would cause an inconvenie­nce it was decided by the council that most residents in Hillingdon have to travel to visit their nearest library so the impact of the closure would not disproport­ionately affect current users.

A new facility is being built for students at Harlington School who will benefit from the current public library’s book stock and PCs.

 ?? GOOGLE MAPS ?? Hillingdon Council has decided to close Harlington Library
GOOGLE MAPS Hillingdon Council has decided to close Harlington Library

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom