Five libraries in Dudley are facing the axe as part of an overhaul of the borough service.
Libraries in Dudley Wood, Woodside, Quarry Bank, Amblecote and Wall Heath are due to get the chop. Library bosses say savings will help boost other sites.
But the move was today criticised by some councillors. They say the threatened libraries are a “lifeline” for many elderly users.
Councillor Bryan Cotterill – whose ward covers both Dudley Wood and Quarry Bank libraries – said he was furious about the plans.
“There are so many old people in my ward that are devastated by this,” he said.
“It is all very well saying other libraries will be improved, but what good is that if you can’t even get there in the first place?
“These small libraries may not be used by thousands of people, but they are a lifeline for many of the people that do.”
Council bosses today said the closures were part of a £2million “modernisation” of the borough’s library service to meet national standards set by the Government. They say it will allow investment in a new library for Brierley Hill, built in partnership with Stourbridge College, a major refurbishment of Wordsley Library, and improvements to other libraries.
New services called Library Links are proposed in Woodside, Dudley Wood and Quarry Bank, based in existing community centres.
They will provide more than 1,500 books, computer access and the opportunity to reserve books from other libraries and have them delivered the following day.
No jobs will be shed through the closures.
Councillor Michael Evans, cabinet member for libraries, defended the move, saying the doomed venues accounted for just six per cent of library issues.
The closures are set to be rubber-stamped at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday 12.
6 Comments
Who nds bks whn kdz hav txt ths days..
Its nt as f yu hv 2 rd propa or n e fink.
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Good-morning all!
It,s the same everywhere!
No reading is the same as depriving
oneself of any form of fantasy!In
the age BEFORE telly,reading a book
etc meant translating it into images/film in ones mind!If you
cannot read,your brain might as well not exist!
FJ Bartling,Hilversum,Holland.
Former reader at Dudley public
library,St James Road.
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another cut-back!
No swimming bathes, no cinema and no bowling alley in Brierley Hill thank god I’ve still got the library to visit!
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Kick up a stink. Get the Council bosses to call up Tim Coates and pay him to sort out th emess by keeping th elibraries open and eliminating waste.
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We use Dudley Wood library a lot, it is a friendly place that is welcoming. There is always someone in there when you go in, and children doing activities or using the computers. If this top facility closes, then all people in the area will be losing another local service that is very important. It will affect young and old alike, as we will not travel miles to use another library. This is ideal for local school children as a great source of information for school projects that go on throughout the school term. What do we pay our council tax for?
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So are the people of Dudley Wood not important enough to keep their library? Dont take this decision lying down. Sign petions, lobby your councillors and go to the meeting at the council house on October 15th and be heard.
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