Mobile libraries go to save £250k

The number of villages and communities visited will also be more than halved - falling from 350 to 157 - and some of the service's 20 staff face losing their jobs.

Bosses say there has been a sharp decline in the use of mobile libraries in the last 10 years and that the money saved would be better spent elsewhere.

It comes after the authority announced that 23 of the county's 43 main libraries will be run by volunteers and not the council.

Staffordshire currently has six mobile libraries which tour the county making stops of between 15-30 minutes at each location. Under the plans, four vehicles will go.

In addition there are two travelling libraries, which park up at a spot for half a day to a full day, and one of these will also be cut.

Villages that are within two miles of a library building will lose the mobile service, although exceptions will be made for particularly deprived areas where people may be without transport. The mobile library will also continue to travel to places with a high elderly population.

Mike Lawrence, libraries boss at Staffordshire County Council, said: "New technology and better connectivity has transformed the way people read books and this has particularly affected use of the mobile and travelling service.

"The simple fact is it costs the county council almost £7 every time someone steps on to a library vehicle.

"At a time when we're spending an extra £20 million this year on care for the old, young and vulnerable we are unable to sustain that investment."

Under the new plan, 18 services to the suburbs of Stafford will be reduced to one.

Elsewhere, the villages of Tixall, Doxey, Highfields and Walton-on-the-Hill will lose their mobile library, as will communities like Etching Hill and Slitting Mill near Rugeley.

County chiefs are hoping to rely on the goodwill of volunteers to take books to the service's 350 housebound readers.

According to records, fewer than 13,000 people registered to receive the service in the last year with only 5,600 actually borrowing books.

Further analysis shows that while 360,000 books were issued to borrowers in 2010-11, that number fell to 218,000 in the latest financial year.

The proposal will be examined by a cross-party committee of councillors on June 1. The issue will then go to cabinet two weeks later and, if approved, nine weeks of consultation will follow beginning on July 1.

Any changes will be brought in from next April, he said.