News

One fifth of North Yorks library staff to go

10.11.11 | Bookseller Staff

Over a fifth of North Yorkshire county council's library staff are set to lose their jobs as part of plans to hand branches over to community groups to run, according to a report in the Yorkshire Post.

According to current plans, all bar one of North Yorkshire's 42 libraries will be retained, but many will be transferred into the hands of volunteers. It has now emerged that the Conservative-led council plans to remove 36 posts from its 177 full-time library staff, and cut opening hours in many branches.

Councillor Chris Metcalfe, executive member for libraries, said: "We have listened to what people have said about how they want to become involved in the provision of this service, we have examined the proposals they have put forward for achieving those aims, and I’m delighted to say that the result is a set of proposals designed to ensure a viable and sustainable future for our libraries."

Scarborough borough councillor Nick Harvey, from the Green party, criticised the plan. He said: "Running a library is exceedingly complex, how many of these community solutions will be here in a few years' time?

"The library service is a core function of the county council."

 

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