Gloucestershire Libraries Suffer Funding Cut.

By Ben Aulakh

Libraries in Gloucestershire are having their budgets cut by the County Council because of a reduction in funding and spending pressures.

The council has said that the need to protect frontline services and care for more older and vulnerable people has meant that they have had to reduce library spending.

Cllr Antonia Noble, Cabinet Member with responsibility for libraries, said: “This was a tough decision to take but it's a sign of these difficult financial times.

“We will continue to protect the most vulnerable people in our society and we will have to do that with less money, so we have to look at ways of reducing spending.”

The council has spent on average £1 million pounds a year on the library sector since 2005, it is hoped that this will stand the service in good stead despite a cut in funding.

Fewer new books will be available for borrowers; subscriptions to some magazines and online resources will also be reviewed by the council.

However new DVD and CD titles will continue to be bought as these generate significant income for the service.

Cllr Noble added, “Thanks to previous investment, stock levels in our libraries are good and we have tried to protect information resources as much as possible.”