Tyrone Constitution - News - Library hours cut is reduced due to additional cash boost

News

Library hours cut is reduced due to additional cash boost

Thursday, 26 January 2012

REVISED proposals to cut opening hours in a number of public libraries across Tyrone were approved last week.
While opening times at Omagh library are unaffected by the changes, the facilities in Fintona, Castlederg, Strabane, Newtownstewart and Fivemiletown are all facing reductions to the hours they are open to the public.
Under the proposals, which were approved by the board of Libraries NI at a meeting on Thursday last, Omagh library will remain open for 57 hours a week, while Strabane's opening hours will be reduced from 52 hours to 48 hours.
Elsewhere, Castlederg's library faces a cut of four-and-a half hours, and there will be five-hour cuts for both Fintona and Newtownstewart. Castlederg library will now be open for a total of 25 hours a week, while Fintona and Newtownstewart library will both remain open for 18 hours each week.
Meanwhile, Fivemiletown library faces the largest reduction in opening hours of any library in county Tyrone. It was previously open for 30 hours a week, but will now be open for 18 hours - a drop of 12 hours.
An additional cash boost of £2.39 million, also announced by Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin last week, meant that the cuts to services arising from Libraries NI's Review of Opening Hours across Northern Ireland were not as severe as originally feared.
“The additional money eases the financial pressure on Libraries NI and means that library opening hours do not need to be reduced to the same level as originally proposed to meet savings targets resulting from the Comprehensive Spending Review," a Libraries NI spokesperson said.
The Libraries NI board's decision now means that all public libraries across Northern Ireland are categorised into one of six 'bands', based on level of use. Omagh is now classed as a Band 1 library, Strabane is in Band 2, Castlederg is in Band 5, while Fivemiletown, Fintona and Newtownstewart are all in Band 6.
Irene Knox, Libraries NI chief executive, said the new proposals, approved by the Board, provided for a "more equitable" distribution of hours across Northern Ireland, based on usage.
“They also take account of many of the concerns expressed by people who responded to the consultation. We will now engage with local customers in each library affected to develop new patterns of opening hours and we will aim to be fair to customers, to libraries and to our staff," she said.