Don’t miss the library consultation roadshows and public meetings

This week the Library and Information Service consultation on proposals for the future of the service continues at a pace, with public meetings taking place every night this week at different venues around the county.

A roadshow got underway a short time ago at Rugby Library and continues until 2.30pm.

Tonight there is a public meeting at 6pm at Kingsbury Youth Centre.

Tomorrow there is a roadshow from 11.30am until 2.30pm at Coleshill Library.

Tomorrow evening at 6pm there is a public meeting at St Leonard’s Church Hall in Church Road, Dordon.

On Wednesday evening there are two different public meetings in different parts of the county. One takes place at 6pm at Michael Drayton School in Hartshill, while the other takes place at 7pm as part of Southam/Feldon Community Forum at Southam Fire Station.

There is then a roadshow on Thursday from 10am until 1pm at Harbury Library in High Street.

On Thursday evening there are three public meetings.

The first is at 6pm at St Nicholas Church Hall in Baddesley Ensor.

The second is at Studley Community Forum at Studley Village Hall at 7pm.

The third is at 7.30pm at the Warwick Rural East Community Forum at Offchurch Village Hall.

A roadshow is taking place on Friday at Leamington Spa Library from 11.30am until 2.30pm.

On Friday evening there is a public meeting at Stour/Shipston Commuity Forum at 7pm at Shipston High School in Darlingscote Road.

And this coming weekend there is a roadshow at Warwick Library from 10am until 1pm on Saturday.

Also, remember the mobile library consultations continue this week, taking place today in Atherstone and tomorrow in Kenilworth mobile libraries.

More than 500 people have already responded to consultation

The Warwickshire Library and Information Service consultation has so far attracted more than 500 written and online responses.

So far 270 people have completed the online survey. Warwick and Leamington are now the most popular libraries that respondents currently use, with 69 and 63 responses respectively. This is twice as many as the next libraries, which are Kenilworth (32) and Stratford (31).

There has also now been 242 written consultation responses, taking the total number of consultation respondents to more than 500 people.

The consultation continues until June 9, with roadshows and public meetings around the county.

Camp Hill public meeting tonight

A public meeting to discuss Warwickshire Library and Information Service proposals for the future for the service is taking place tonight at 7pm at Camp Hill Edication Sports and Social (CHESS) in Nuneaton.

Also today consultation roadshows come to Whitnash Library from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

Please also be aware that the date of a public meeting in Whitnash scheduled for May 23 has been rearranged to May 11 following guidance from the local member, Cllr Bernard Kirton.

The date of the public meeting at Whitnash has changed from the afternoon of May 23 to May 11 at 6.30pm at St Joseph’s Church Hall, Murcott Road East, Whitnash, Leamington Spa, CV31 2JJ.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) there is a roadshow from 11.30am to 2.30pm at Southam Library, and in the evening there is a public meeting at Dunchurch Junior School from 7pm.

Please remember it will also be possible to take part in the consultation at one-to-one sessions on the mobile libraries next month.

Consultation responses so far

The first fortnight of the Library and Information Service consultation on the proposed future of the service has seen 50 people complete written questionnaires, 190 have completed the online survey, and this blog, launched just a week ago, has attracted approaching 1,000 visits.

In addition to this there has been other written correspondence, including 150 individually written letters from the school children at Kingsbury Prmary School.

So far the respondents to the online survey are, in the main, visitors to Bulkington, Warwick and Leamington libraries.

The Warwickshire Library and Information Service proposals identify 16 Warwickshire libraries that are no longer sustainable in their current form, alongside other cost-cutting measures including reduced opening hours, reductions in the mobile library fleet and workforce, and cutting the number of public computers across the library network. 

The 12-week public consultation began on March 18 and will run until June 9. A roadshow will visit all 34 Warwickshire libraries during the consultation period so people can find out more and ask questions face-to-face. Senior officers and a councillor will also attend a series of public meetings countywide.

The next roadshow is today at Wolston Library from 2pm until 5pm, tomorrow (Saturday) there is a roadshow at Binley Woods Library from 10am until 1pm, and Monday there is a roadshow at Lillington Library from 10am until 1pm.

The information now available online ,  includes a factsheet for every Warwickshire library, giving details of visits, loan issues and costs, along with comparative performance figures across the network, and the Cabinet report county councillors considered on March 17. 

Communities considering volunteer-run library services will have the facts and figures they need at their fingertips. People who don’t have access to the internet can request paper copies from any of Warwickshire’s 34 libraries, or from Shire Hall in Warwick.

The consultation questionnaire is available in all Warwickshire libraries and online. 

Feedback received during the consultation will be collated, analysed and reported to Warwickshire County Council Cabinet on July 14 so councillors are fully informed before they make any final decisions.