A new community library opened in Garway's village hall on Thursday, January 5th to coincide with a monthly market held in the village.

Local residents Hilary Smallwood, Lesley Whistance and Ruth Deeley, along with a team of volunteers, have taken on the task of running the library. They contacted Herefordshire Library Service with their plans for a tabletop library when the mobile library service finished.

Hilary explained:?"The mobile service in Garway was very popular and very well used, not just by people who wanted to borrow books but it was socially important too."

The popularity of the library was proved when Garway had the highest number of registered users than any other new community library in Herefordshire. Hilary told the Ross Gazette:?"We will have a new selection of books every month but we are starting simply and hope we can expand the service if it works well."

The library will be open on the first Thursday of every month when the market take place.

Councillor Roger Phillips, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for enterprise and culture, said: "We have been working closely with local communities to see whether they would be able to run their own library service and I am delighted that this new library will now be available to residents in the Garway area.

The council is already working with 20 communities in the county to see how the library service can support their plans by providing regular stocks of books and simple systems for them to track where any borrowed books are."

Councillor Russell B. Hamilton, ward member, said: "I am a keen advocate of community libraries and the introduction of this new service reinforces just how important they are to local communities. "I would urge local residents to use the library as it is yet another important step towards improving the range of services provided locally along with the long term sustainability of our rural communities.

"I would like to thank local resident, Hilary Smallwood, for taking a lead and establishing this library with the support of Garway Parish Council," he added.

The library was opened as part of Herefordshire Council's Future Libraries project, being run in conjunction with Shropshire Council.