A TOWN is making a stance by using its own money to keep open its library.
At last Thursday’s meeting of Rhuddlan Town council, councillors voted to pay for Rhuddlan Library to remain open for 23 hours a week to mitigate cuts being made by Denbighshire County Council.
The local authority were planning to cut opening hours at Rhuddlan library from 23hrs a week down to 15hrs but Rhuddlan Town Councillors recognised the importance of the library to its many users and decided to fund the cut in hours to keep the library open.
The town council has part-funded the library for a number of years.
Cllr Mike Kermode, Rhuddlan Mayor, said “I am sure that everyone will be so pleased to hear that the Town Council has decided to provide enough support funding to the Library so that it can stay open without any cuts in its hours.
"The town council were dismayed with the County Council’s decision to cut library hours across Denbighshire. We have provided financial support to the library for many years because we see the benefits it provides to residents of all ages in terms of educational studies, leisure reading and as a social centre.
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"We have had to more than double the amount of funding support for this year so that the library can retain its present hours but we felt that this was something we had to do.
"The town council has taken a big step in providing this additional finance for the library – we hope that people will respond by continuing to use its services in the year ahead.”
The library is used by many people and organisations in Rhuddlan including the 'One Stop Shop'. It also provides IT facilities and allows residents to meet and socialise.
Mathew Baker, Denbighshire Library and Customer Service Assistant Manager, said: “Denbighshire Libraries truly appreciate the support of Rhuddlan Town Council and the value they attribute to our service in the local community.
"We look forward to continuing and developing our partnership working."
The unpopular decision to drastically reduce opening times at libraries across Denbighshire is set to return to the Cabinet for reconsideration.
At a lengthy Special Meeting of the Council’s Communities Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, January 11, members voted in favour of asking the cabinet to postpone the decision to cut library services by 40 per cent until "further exploratory work" has been done to identify alternative funding sources available to the council, or other partner bodies, whether in the private or public sector.
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