Suffolk Libraries go from strength to strength

Alongside the freeze in council tax, in February we Conservatives voted through a county Council budget for the next 12 months that will achieve savings of £25million – the second part of a plan to save over £50million over two years.  We are doing this as a result of reductions to our grant from the government, together with on-going increases in the demands on our services, and the costs of providing them.

The savings will be achieved by reducing management and back-office costs, cutting bureaucracy and working in new, innovative and more efficient ways.

Just one shining example of this is a secure future for our Library service following our Conservative proposal and then decision of the council to move the management of the library network to a new operating model.

Responsibility for the day-to-day running of the county’s library services was transferred to Suffolk’s Libraries Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) at the beginning of August last year.

All Suffolk’s 44 libraries and the mobile, school and prison services now come under the direct control of the IPS – a first in the country – which works in partnership with local library groups to support and expand the service.

This has enabled us to retain our library network, working in partnership with local communities, while reducing the budget by around 30% over three years, from approximately £9m to £6m.

These changes will mean that, while the council faces continuing pressure on its resources, the county’s much-valued library service will have the scope to survive and potentially grow in the years ahead, just as other Councils are closing their libraries.

In Lakenheath I am proud to have played my part in the establishment of the Friend of Lakenheath Library – FOLK www.lakenheathlibraryfriends.wordpress.com/ a group that goes from strength to strength and is making the library a more relevant and popular place in our community, in a way that only local community members can rather than professional library development officers, yes there is a professional team at the back of each library and the service overall but it’s the community that will help make them flourish.