Thousands of new books will soon be added to the shelves of libraries across Cumbria.
At its meeting today, Cumbria County Council's cabinet agreed to invest an extra £100,000 on 17,000 new titles. The new money is part of the county council's commitment to maintaining a top quality Library Service that provides value for money for council taxpayers.
As well as the latest popular fiction and non-fiction, the extra investment will be used to buy more illustrated novels for junior readers and board-books for the very youngest library goers.
The county council's Library Service has almost one million books in stock. As well as multiple copies of new and popular books, libraries also offer older titles which are out of print and may not be available in book shops.
Also at today's meeting, councillors confirmed a decision taken last month to withdraw the Carlisle urban mobile which plies most of its trade within an area already well served by four static libraries.
Councillors on the county council's Scrutiny Panel had asked cabinet to look again at its earlier decsion to withdraw the service next year.
Carlisle is unique in Cumbria in having two mobile libraries - an urban one and a rural one. Every other district in the county is served by one mobile.
As part of the change which will be introduced in April 2008, library users who for mobility reasons cannot get to their local branch library will continue to receive a doorstep delivery and collection service.
Councillor Gary Strong, cabinet member responsible for Cumbria's Library Service, said: "This extra investment in new books will make it will be easier for borrowers to find the book they are looking for on the shelf. The boost in numbers of new titles will also help to reduce the time people have to wait if they reserve a copy."
"The change to the mobile service in Carlisle means council taxpayers will retain a high quality service, and avoid paying for a doubling up in library services that does not exist anywhere else in the county. People with problems accessing their local library will continue to benefit from our doorstep delivery service.
"Today's decsions are all about making sure the county's libraries continue to provide excellent service and value for money."
ENDS
Media enquiries to Mark Graham, Media Officer on 01228-606337
Notes
Carlisle is unique in Cumbria in having two mobile libraries - an urban one and a rural one. Every other district in the county is served by one mobile.
More than two thirds of the Carlisle urban mobile's time is spent within one and a half miles of an existing branch library - either Carlisle (The Lanes), Morton, Harraby or Denton Holme.
The Government's own library access standard says that most householders should not have to travel more than two miles to their nearest library service.
The county council has improved upon this standard by reducing the distance people can be expect to travel to their nearest library service to one and a half miles.
This means that Carlisle's remaining mobile library van will continue to serve those parts of the city and outlying areas which lie more than one and a half miles from a branch library.
In addition, each library user who for mobility reasons cannot get to their local branch library would receive a doorstep delivery and collection service.
The proposal would not come into effect until April 2008. In the meantime, library users will be contacted to make sure people can access the best available library service for their individual circumstances.