Hay-on-Wye residents plan to save 'town of books' library

Residents in Hay-on-Wye are considering a plan to save the town's library from closure.

A community group has been formed to try to keep the library open in the Welsh town famous for its bookshops.

Powys council launched a review of its libraries to try to make budget savings of £250,000 by April 2019.

Residents will need to raise £18,000 a year to meet half the running costs, with the county council meeting the other half.

Hay-on-Wye town council is working with the new community group to consider funding the library.

But Fiona Howard, the mayor of Hay, warned the town council could not afford to bail out the library alone.

"We've been given an ultimatum that we have to come up with proposals. They are planning to close the library, and they are going to start the procedure to close the library on 31 October," she explained.

"We were informed of this in June and told that we have to come up with plans of how we could keep the library open.

"They said that they would fund 50% of it, but that would mean that the town council, a small town council in a town of 1,500 people, would have to find £18,000 every year to fund this. It's not possible."

Eleven libraries in Powys are threatened with closure as part of the review.

Powys council cabinet member responsible for libraries, Graham Brown, said any closures would be a last resort.

"As a council we've got to find nearly £30m savings over the next three years. The library service itself has to find £250,000 savings," he said.

"What we have been doing is looking at the service and trying to work with communities so that we can achieve these savings, while maintaining a service for these communities as well. It's not just Hay-on-Wye, but all branch libraries."

Mr Brown said the council faced tough decisions about how it spent its budget.

"Cuts are affecting all services. I've been at a public meeting where they have been discussing day services for the elderly, and there were over 100 people there who were very upset that they may lose a day centre.

"It's affecting every service, so we are trying to work with communities, be they town councils, voluntary organisations or even businesses, to see if we can achieve the savings by having input from other bodies.

"The last thing we want to do is close a library."

The Welsh Local Government Association said about 20 libraries have permanently closed across Wales since 2011.

A further 20 libraries have re-opened as community managed or independent libraries. Since 2009 spending on libraries has been cut by 32%.

In a statement the WLGA said: "Despite the budgetary challenges faced by local authorities, all Welsh councils remain committed to working with local communities in providing a comprehensive and effective library services that meets both the needs and expectations of service users in all corners of Wales."