Axed library is checking out early
HUNMANBY Library is unlikely to open its doors again, according to staff at the doomed building.
North Yorkshire County Council hinted last week that the axed service, which is due to officially close on March 31, was unlikely to re-open after a faulty boiler caused it to shut due to freezing conditions inside.
And, after the Mercury approached staff working on the makeshift mobile library operating at the back of the current Stonegate building, they confirmed that the building was almost certainly not going to reopen before that day.
The inevitable early closure of the service is an underwhelming end to what has been one of the longest running and hardest fought campaigns by villagers in recent memory.
A steering group had been established to help safeguard the future of the building after North Yorkshire County Council announced the library was to be one of dozens that would be scrapped as part of cost-cutting measures by the authority.
That steering group recently disbanded however, as although 25 people volunteered to help keep the library afloat, nobody was able to take on the vital role of volunteer co-ordinator.
Subsequently they conceded defeat in their battle to keep it alive, sealing the building’s fate. March 31 was the date circled for it to close, to be replaced by a mobile unit similar to the one currently based at the rear of the library.
Obviously a more compact service, it has proved popular, according to library staff.
This comes despite residents’ previous fears that the service would be unable to adequately cover Hunmanby.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council said they were pleased the makeshift mobile library had proved a hit, saying: “Following the mechanical breakdown of Hunmanby library’s heating boiler, North Yorkshire County Council felt it was right to maintain a library service in the weeks to come and secured the use of the Schools Mobile, replicating the hours normally provided.
“The county council is very pleased this alternative service has proved successful in meeting local demand.”