Important letter from DCC regarding the mobile library
We are emailing you on behalf of Devon County Council. Devon County Council is reviewing its library services and the different ways that people use it. That's because the council is facing huge financial challenges, and in order for them to invest more money in services that support vulnerable children and adults, they are having to make considerable savings elsewhere in their budget. The council therefore is proposing to stop running the mobile library service. We run four mobile libraries on the council’s behalf, three of which are 15 years old and at the end of their serviceable lives, and the fourth is nine years old. All of our aging vehicles have become increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain. There are also fewer people now using the mobile library service. Tomorrow, they will be launching a consultation with library customers to get a better understanding about how people will use the library service in future. They will be asking whether you have considered other ways to access library services, such as our Good Neighbours service, Home Library Service, or via our 50 library buildings across Devon. Or, whether you are familiar with the range of digital books and other materials that are available to all of our library members. The consultation will be online from Friday 31st March //devon.cc/mobilelibraries, and you will be able to read more about it on the Council's website. Alternatively, there will be copies of the consultation on each of our four mobile library routes, and in your nearest library. If you have any questions about the consultation, please visit the Have Your Say webpage or contact Devon County Council via communitiesconsultation@devon.gov.uk or telephone 0345 155 1001.
The Council has made it clear that they will not be making any decision about the proposal until they have had chance to consider all of the responses to their consultation. If you would like to respond to the consultation, we would encourage you to do so directly to Devon County Council. The consultation will close on Friday 26th May.