Somerset County Council has this week defended its decision to cut the opening hours at Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge libraries from this month as part of a cost-reduction exercise.
Somerset County Council’s cost-cutting plans have seen Burnham Library’s opening hours reduced by four hours per week while Highbridge Library’s hours are being cut by 3.5 a week.
The council recently approved £7.8m of cuts including £762,000 from the vulnerable adult services budget, £500,000 from bus services and £200,000 to library services.
But a Somerset County Council spokeswoman told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We know how important library services are to people, and our teams work hard to ensure they are vibrant places offering a variety of community activities and services.”
“This is while having to respond to the stark reality of the on-going financial challenge for local authorities.”
“The decision to reduce opening hours, even by a small amount, while keeping core opening times, means we can sustain our valued services, and most importantly, keep our libraries open.”
“It enables us to deliver savings equivalent to the cost of running the county’s ten smallest libraries – no mean feat in the face of plummeting local authority funding.”
New Burnham-On-Sea Library Opening Hours:
New Highbridge Library Opening Hours:
What’s your view?
Are the proposed changes justified? Contact Burnham-On-Sea.com
