People will have the chance to decide on new opening hours for their local library from next week.
A consultation on changes to opening times at libraries across County Durham begins on Monday (6th August) and will run until Friday 28th September.
People who use the mobile library service, which stops in 37 communities, will also be invited to give their views on where it should stop in the future.
Durham County Council is reducing opening hours and changing its mobile service in response to significant Government funding reductions, which mean it has to save approximately £180m between 2011 and 2017.
Cllr Maria Plews, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for leisure, libraries and lifelong learning, said: “By making changes to our library service we will be able to keep all our libraries open despite the financial pressures we are currently operating under.
“It is important though that people who use the service are able to influence these changes so I would encourage residents to have their say during the consultation.”
Library-users can fill in a survey at their local library, giving their choice of preferred hours from a number of options.
These options have been put together to reflect factors specific to each library, such as current busy times of day, market days and other issues. At those libraries where there will be only a small reduction in opening hours, one option will be similar to existing opening times.
People who use the mobile library service should have received a questionnaire about which settlements they would like the library to visit in the future. Questionnaires are also available from the mobile library.
The council has 27 community and 12 town centre libraries, including Clayport, in Durham, where opening hours have already been reduced.
