Library Services in Rural Areas - make your views known

Shropshire Council provides library services in rural areas through a mix of mobile and community libraries.

The mobile library is experiencing a decline in usage and the Council is undertaking a review to establish the best way forward for this service.

Below are the scope and objectives of the review. If you would like to comment on the review please contact your Unitary Councillor and have your say.

 

Scope of the Review

The review will look at the role and purpose of the mobile library service to ensure that it meets the needs of residents and takes account of changes in rural life as a whole. It will look at the role of of the public mobile service, the community care mobile library and the volunteer based home delivery service. The schools library service will not form part of the review as this is funded by schools.

Objectives:

• To understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current system
• To define the purpose of the mobile library service, and in particular the balance between serving urban and rural areas.
• To consider opportunities for providing a more efficient service
• To ensure there are strong links between the mobile library service and council priorities, particularly around access to services
• To consider opportunities for the mobile libraries to be used more intensively to provide services by other parts of the council and partner agencies
• To review the merits of introducing IT network access to the mobile libraries, both for staff and public use
• To consider opportunities and benefits of sharing with other local authorities
• To make recommendations on ways other than mobile libraries for delivering library services to customers in rural areas and how they might compliment mobile library provision
• To take account of potential national development in library services and their impact on mobile library use
• To produce criteria for the provision of a mobile library service to a location and the duration of the visit.