Three South Ayrshire libraries to close next week
Three South Ayrshire Council libraries are set to shut their doors for good on Thursday 31 March after Councillors agreed the closures as part of the 2016/17 budget.
Three South Ayrshire Council libraries are set to shut their doors for good on Thursday 31 March after Councillors agreed the closures as part of the 2016/17 budget.
The closure of Coylton, Dailly and Dundonald libraries was agreed as part of a package of additional savings totalling £3.2 million, approved on 3 March. The closures will generate savings of £47,263 over the next two years.
Further savings of more than £100,000 will also be delivered by reducing the opening hours of the remaining libraries later in the year.
Once the three libraries close, alternative provision will be available from the 11 remaining libraries in South Ayrshire. This will be complemented by the mobile library, which will be rescheduled to include stops in the three villages.
The mobile library service will be available in the three locations every two weeks. Both the times and locations will be kept under review in line with community feedback.
While library members can use any South Ayrshire library, the nearest alternative libraries for local people are:
- Coylton – Carnegie Library and Forehill Library - Dailly – Girvan Library and Maybole Library - Dundonald – Symington Library and Troon Library.
Library members can also manage their library account online where they can request, renew and view their library loans, as well as download eBooks
Jill Cronin, South Ayrshire Council’s Head of Enterprise, Development and Leisure, said: “Our libraries offer a great service and we know how much our libraries mean to our communities, so we understand the impact these closures will have.
“We really gave this a lot of thought and by shutting three of the smaller and less-visited facilities and replacing provision with the mobile library – as well as changing the opening hours of the remaining libraries – we can continue to deliver a quality library service while achieving the necessary financial targets.
“In addition, many of our library services and products can be accessed online or in other ways and we would encourage our library members to make use of these fantastic resources.
“We know local people and communities will be disappointed and we do sympathise with them and thank them for their custom over the years.
"However, this action has been necessary to help the Council balance its budget and we hope our library members understand this and make full use of the alternative services available.”