Cornwall's libraries 'bucking UK trend' - council

Cornwall Council said 22,000 new users had borrowed books in the county in the past year

Handing libraries over to other groups to run has helped Cornwall avoid the closures being faced across the rest of the UK, a councillor has said.

The BBC sent Freedom of Information requests to every UK library authority and combined the information with Arts Council England data to show that one in 20 libraries have either closed or been taken over by volunteers since 2016.

However, Cornwall Council said 22,000 new users borrowed books in the past year with library memberships reaching a 10-year high.

Only four of the county's 27 libraries are run by the council and Carol Mould - the councillor responsible for libraries - said giving the sites to other groups to run had helped them remain open.

The council decided to devolve its library service in 2018 and since then town and parish councils, a community group and a social enterprise have taken over 23 sites.

The four libraries still run directly by the council are in Bodmin, Penzance, Helston and Callington.

'Enriching lives'

Ms Mould said the move to allow other groups to run 23 sites in the county had helped keep libraries as community hubs and had got people using the sites.

"I think we're bucking the trend by the way we actually operate our libraries and I think that's been the secret to this," Ms Mould said.

Liz Fenwick, an author based in Cornwall, said having access to libraries was very important.

Ms Fenwick said: "In the current climate, where money is so tight... the library's there and it enriches lives in so many ways."

Seren uses her local library in Bude as much as she can

In Bude, 15-year-old Seren Stafford has been using the town council-run library for nine years and said she loves visiting the site.

She said: "Whenever I go to the library, I usually spend as long as I can there, usually a couple of hours just kind of browsing through the books.

"I did my work experience at the library this year for four days and when I left, I took out about 10 books.

"Even though I've got like 100 books at home to read already, I was like, no, I just want to borrow more books because I love it so much."