Don't Miss Your Chance To Quiz Council Leader On Library Proposals
There’s still time to apply for tickets to an event where residents will get the opportunity to quiz Derbyshire County Council’s Leader about proposed changes to the authority’s library service.
Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis will lead the Q&A event at Chesterfield Library on Saturday 21 July between 2pm-3.30pm, answering audience questions as well as responding to any submitted beforehand.
Tickets are free but must be booked in advance, with people being able to apply for two tickets each.
A British Sign Language interpreter will be at the event and people who cannot attend will be able to follow proceedings on Twitter by following the county council’s meetings account @DCCmeetings
To book tickets people should go to www.derbyshire.gov.uk/librariesforderbyshire
and to submit a question beforehand people should email them to
libraryquestions@derbyshire.gov.uk
The Q&A event is part of a 12-week consultation being held by the county council for Derbyshire residents to have their say on proposed changes which include transferring 20 libraries out of a total of 45, and the mobile library service, to community management.
Other proposals include a reduction in weekly opening hours across the library service, a reduction in the materials fund (books, audio books, eBooks, eMagazines, eAudio, online resources like Newsbank and newspapers), considering the future implementation of Smart libraries and stopping the DVD hire loan service.
The council is proposing the changes to achieve savings of £1.6m from the library service budget by 2021 and to ensure its library service reflects changes to the way people access information and books using new technology.
The library service budget was more than £10m in 2010 and is currently £5.2m.
Councillor Lewis has appealed to communities to work with the authority to secure the future of libraries, adding that if there is a lack of support for the proposals then all aspects of the library service would need to be reviewed.
This review could lead to further significant reductions to opening hours, staffing, the materials fund and the mobile library service. Some libraries could open for less than one day a week with few or no new books or resources added to the current stock.
If any further reduction proposals were to be put forward at a later date, they would be subject to further consultation before any decisions were made.
Councillor Lewis said: “The Q&A event is the perfect opportunity for people to come along and ask questions about our proposals, talk to others who are interested in the plans and find out more.
“Nearly 4,000 people have already had their say in the consultation by completing the questionnaire and some interesting issues have been raised, along with some useful suggestions.
“I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say at the event and being able to explain our plans in more detail.”
If there is not enough time to answer all the questions submitted at the Q&A event, written responses will be posted on the Libraries for Derbyshire web pages on the council’s website.
The council has already held drop-in sessions at all 45 libraries and has set up focus groups to cover all 20 areas with a library proposed for community management.
People who would like to get more involved in discussions and find out more about the challenges and practicalities of running a community library are being encouraged to sign up to their local focus group.
The consultation closes on 30 July and people who have not yet completed the questionnaire are being encouraged to do so by going to www.derbyshire.gov.uk/librariesforderbyshire where they will also find details of the focus groups that are meeting this month.
More News From Amber Valley Info
| News Have you seen missing girl Megan From Ripley Have you seen Megan? The 15-year-old has been reported missing from her home in Ripley. read more | |
| A night at the museum for the 5th Dronfield Hilltop Cubs Great British Car Journey, the award-winning classic car museum in Ambergate, Derbyshire, hosted the pack for a very special read more | |
| Alfreton chapel with planning for redevelopment as two homes goes under the hammer The former Methodist chapel in the village of Westhouses near Alfreton is to go up for auction thi read more | |
| Love Sadler Gate Promises Blooming Good Time at Spring Market Love Sadler Gate, the collective of independent businesses in the iconic Derby Cathedral Quarter street, will be holdin read more | |
| Lord Burlington opens iconic Heage Windmill On Saturday around 120 guests welcomed Lord Burlington to Heage Windmill for the Official Opening of the mill following extensive repairs read more | |
The Amber Valley Info Noticeboard
| Cold Callers claiming to be working on behalf of Derbyshire County Council Policehave seen and increase in reports of 'cold callers' where people are claiming to be working on behal read more | |
| Subscriptions For Amber Valley Borough Councils 2024 Garden Waste Service Are Now Open The garden waste collection service is available to all residents in Amber Valley except for r read more | |
| Mobile networks are being improved in Ripley Mobile networks are being improved in Ripley boosting the speed, performance and coverage of mobile services in the area. read more | |
| Trent Barton Buses - Extension Of The £2 Single Fare Cap Trent Barton Buses have confirmed their participation in the extension of the £2 single fare cap until the end o read more | |
| Crich Tramway Village Looking For An Engineering Manager The successful candidate for this post will have excellent management skills gained whilst working in a practical workshop e read more | |
