Herefordshire Council is considering a new way of running the county’s libraries, including setting up a partnership funded by the council, to take them on.

The Council will make a decision on the future delivery of museum, library and archive services in the county at their next full meeting in May.

Members of Ross Library Development Group are concerned that there are only two professional libraries serving the whole of the County’s population south of Hereford City, Ross and Ledbury.

These two market towns are both growing communities with considerable numbers of new houses recently built and many more approved. RLDG believes the service is ‘totally insufficient’ for rapidly growing needs.

They say that both Ledbury and Ross Libraries are situated in iconic buildings. Ross has a wonderful new international award-winning building, just 30 years old this year, which was the first purpose-built library in the county for over 100 years.

The RLG thinks it is imperative that the libraries continue to function from their current premises. They are also concerned that, despite many references to “partnership” there seems no recognition of the user groups like RLDG and the Friends of Ledbury Library, nor of the essential relationships with Peterchurch Hub or Colwall parish council. No mention is made of the DWP or Children’s Services presence in the Library.

The Council report says that the key issue facing the museum sector is the best way – the most resilient and sustainable way – of delivering such services in the future. And this comes down to the ways in which all sectors of a local economy – public, private, educational, charitable, volunteer and so on – can coalesce around the service for its, and their own, future well-being.

The Library Service is looking to making savings of £65,000 in the current financial year with some short-term savings options being further reductions in opening hours and renting space to a third party at Hereford Library.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now