Hampshire mobile library services face cutbacks

Around a third of mobile library stops are proposed to be withdrawn

A third of villages and communities across Hampshire could lose their mobile library under proposed cutbacks to the service.

Hampshire County Council is looking to save £300,000 from its library services budget and is also consulting on the future of three public libraries.

The public consultation, which ends in May, proposes losing 115 "poorly used" mobile library stops.

Opponents of the plans say the service plays a vital role in some villages.

Under the proposals, one of the four mobile libraries in use would be axed from January.

The county council says all the stops on the proposed withdrawn list have "poor usage".

'Great shame'

Alec Kennedy, head of library services, said: "We carried out a consultation in 2011 and following that we found fewer than 10 people were using them and in some cases none."

Sam Marston's family use the mobile stop in the village of Knowle, near Fareham.

She said: "It's a convenient service that allows people to walk up from home and access books on their doorstep.

"Our village is small, but growing and taking away a service like this would be a great shame."

The consultation also includes changes to how libraries in Grayshott, Kingsclere and Milford on Sea are run.