The fight to save the library service, especially Ross Library in Cantilupe Road is far from over.

Clare Llewellyn West, the chair of Joint Action for Herefordshire Libraries (JAHL), told the Ross Gazette that many people congratulate the action group for saving the library but she says this is not the case. It is an ongoing issue and JAHL is appealing to Herefordshire Council to appreciate the benefits of the library service and refrain from making more cuts.

A public consultation has been conducted and the decision will be debated by the cabinet in October but JAHL believe this will lead to further cuts. Ms West told the Gazette:?“We understand that the council is faced with very tough decisions because of the impact of austerity, but we genuinely believe that libraries are an important investment for the community.

“Modern libraries join all the dots – health, education, business, internet access and leisure – they have something for everyone. And in a large rural county they are the council’s key footprint in each area.

“We think that it would be very rash at a time when public transport is dwindling to cut people off from services by making further cuts. In fact we believe that the county should be aspiring to increase and improve the service.”

She added:?“And let’s not forget that we do all have a legal right to a comprehensive and efficient library service.”

She told the Ross Gazette that a recent article from the Adam Smith Institute declared that libraries are becoming obsolete since the proportion of adults visiting public libraries in England has fallen by almost a third over the last decade, noting that “just 33.4% of adults had used a public library, compared with 48.2% of adults in 2005/2006” Ms West said:?“Of course “just 33%” is one in three of the adult population which is still a pretty impressive number.”

Ms West said that Herefordshire residents have been luckier than many as there have not been any library closures. She said:?“That’s largely because library users kicked up such a stink when Herefordshire Council threatened to reduce the service to a single central library.”

In recent years the number of visits to Herefordshire libraries has dropped by about a fifth but JAHL believe that the number of visits could also be due to reduced opening hours following cuts to paid staffing levels. Ten years ago libraries around the county opened for over 407 hours a week. By 2015/6 they only opened for 253 hours, a massive drop of nearly 40%.

Ms West, added: “We were shocked to see just how deep the cuts have been - and we know that there has also been a severe reduction in staffing which is undermining the quality of the service. Fewer libraries – fewer library staff - fewer visits. It doesn’t take a genius to see the connection.”