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On Tuesday 6
March the County Council’s Cabinet agreed the five year Libraries Strategic
Commissioning Strategy. This follows the
public consultation on a draft strategy last year.
The strategy is
designed to deliver a modern and sustainable Library and Information Service
for East Sussex. It is designed to meet
current and future needs for the county and to address the challenges the
service faces, both in terms of less money to deliver the service but also the reducing
demand for libraries across East Sussex as a whole.
We recognise
how much people value well-regarded local services. As part of the strategy, the difficult decision
has been made to close Langney, Mayfield, Ore, Pevensey Bay, Polegate, Ringmer
and Willingdon Libraries after Saturday 5 May 2018. The Mobile Library Service will also stop on
this day and financial support to Northiam Village Library.
More than 86%
of all East Sussex residents will be within a 20 minute journey time to a
library by public transport and over 99% within a 20 minute journey by car.
We will still
provide a network of 17 libraries to serve East Sussex residents. Our eLibrary enables customers to reserve and
renew books to collect from a library, as well as downloading eBooks,
eAudiobooks and eMagazines. Customers
can also renew items using our automated renewal line 0345 6080195 (24 hours).
We run a free home
library service for people who cannot easily use a library
due to disability or frailty, or are caring for someone who cannot be left.
New library
services will be available to families with young children in Shinewater and
East Hastings Children’s Centres, recognising the greater needs within the
communities of Langney and Ore.
For customers of the seven libraries which
will close and the Mobile Library, we will shortly be providing information on
the full range of alternative ways to access the East Sussex Library and
Information Service, including the nearest library.
The Libraries
Strategy includes a number of new services, designed to serve the needs of
different groups of residents better within our limited resources.
We will expand
the range of materials and other resources which are available through the eLibrary.
We will offer a new Community Library Membership
to rural communities. We will
increasingly promote our services beyond libraries, through outreach work with
other council services and partners.
There will be
new services for children and young people, including trials of term-time
homework clubs for 9 to 13 year olds and study clubs for older students during
exam revision periods. We will also offer
a range of new free and paid services to local schools. All schools in East Sussex will be able to use
a free Teachers’ Library Membership, to borrow materials to use in the
classroom.
We will let
you know about these new services in future editions of this eNewsletter and
on our website.
Northiam
Village Library is a community run library, which the local community will
continue to provide. We will continue to
provide the library with some stock through the new Community Library
Membership. Some one-off funding will
also be provided to refurbish the library.
To read more
about the Libraries Strategy please visit eastsussex.gov.uk/librarystrategy
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