ANGER is growing in Lymm over plans to close the village library.
A consultation meeting held at the Lymm Hotel – moved from the library because it wasn’t big enough – was attended by more than 150 people and a subsequent “Save our Library” meeting at the village hall attracted another 100-plus people.
Residents are furious at proposals to close Lymm Library, part of the plan put forward by library operators LiveWire as part of a borough-wide plan to change the way libraries are run across Warrington.
Liberal Democrat parish councillor Graham Gowland said: “It was clear from the first meeting that feelings were very strong.
“People hold their library in very high esteem and don’t want to lose it. The consultation period is very short so we decided we had no time to lose before we got a ‘Save our Library’ campaign underway. I called a follow-up meeting at the village hall.
“This was attended by about 100 people. With the assistance of several of my colleagues, we organised brainstorming sessions to gain ideas from people for different aspects of our campaign.
“Some excellent ideas came forward and we now plan to flesh them out. A large number of people offered their active support. We have launched a petition to support our case and we are in close touch with colleagues in Stockton Heath and with the organisers of the Warrington wide ‘38degrees’ petition.”
The Lymm petition can be accessed on Warrington Borough Council’s website at https://cmis.warrington.gov.uk/cmis5/MeetingsCalendar.aspx and then go to “E-Petitions”.
Petition sheets can be downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/savelymmlibrary
Cllr Gowland added: “We quite understand that the way libraries are used has changed in recent years but libraries are more than just lenders of books. They are at the heart of communities and particularly valued by the young and the elderly. It is Warrington Council which is demanding cuts in funding and our campaign will be aimed at making the council’s executive board change its mind.
“Once we have put our case together, we will feed this into Lymm Parish Council to take forward on behalf of Lymm residents.”
Residents at a library consultation meeting
Anger growing over library closure plans
22 Comments
2 Comments
Here is a radical thought………, as the Parish Council can increase its precept to raise money, and working with the many people who have volunteered their services, why doesn’t the Parish Council take over the Library and run it for Lymm residents…..localism in action! Alas I often fear that many of these “Save” campaigns are more about playing politics, rather than actually doing something constructive and meaningful.
True Paul. A bit like building an expensive and unnecessary administrative council headquarters in the town centre then hiding the cost of it from the voters from whom you are constantly removing services and facilities.