Do not close rural Libraries, if local communities are not able to raise the funds and operate as an entirely voluntary organisation
Why is this important?
North Yorkshire County Council is trying AGAIN to close local Libraries, if communities don’t agree to raise funds and run them themselves on a voluntary basis. The Council are carrying out a “consultation” but the choices are a) you run your own library or b) your library will be closed down. This affects 20 rural libraries in North Yorkshire.
In July 2014, Mr Justice Collins ruled in the High Court that the public consultation in Lincolnshire was flawed and had failed to deal with an alternative proposal. A similar flawed consultation has taken place in Leicestershire.
Libraries are such an important hub of local rural communities. They are used by the young, the elderly, job seekers, people accessing the internet and others. I live in Bentham, a small market town in Craven. If our Library were to close down, I would need to travel to the nearest “core” Library in Skipton, a mere 27 miles away, at a cost of £10.10 by train. How would the young or the elderly get there? Bentham wouldn’t be the friendly town with a sense of community without the Library.
