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Sheffield libraries under threat as consultation launched

01.01.70 | Katie Allen

Libraries could face closure as Sheffield City Council looks to make savings in its annual budget.

An eight-week consultation has been launched which will put all of the authority’s 28 libraries under scrutiny, alongside mobile library services, home services, and its archives.

Councillors say they cannot rule out closures following the results of the survey, which hopes to canvas the views of as many of the library service’s 180,000 registered users as possible.

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, the cabinet member responsible for community services told the Star newspaper: “We cannot rule out that, depending on the results of the consultation, services could be delivered differently, some developed, others changed or reduced.”

Some of the proposed changes include the creation of community hubs, which will mean libraries sharing buildings with other facilities, and the expansion of the role of volunteers, although the council said its policy was that volunteers should not replace paid staff.

Library users can respond online at www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraryreview or using forms in local libraries. The consultation runs until 8th October.

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