Council 'reluctantly' closes library for good

The permanent closure of a Leicestershire library has been confirmed.

It was "reluctantly" decided on Friday by the county council's cabinet that Ibstock Community Library would be shut for good.

The facility was most recently run by a group of volunteers, but they told the council in September that they could not continue.

This prompted a hunt for a new team to keep the doors open, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

Two expressions of interest were received during a consultation that began at the end of last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, one group had simply “intended to show support for the library, rather than proposing to run the library”.

Their submission was subsequently withdrawn. The other group’s offer to take on the role has now been rejected.

A spokesperson for the county council said there were “sustainability concerns” over the second group’s ability to run the library, particularly in relation to finance.

Coalville library is able to cope with additional users, and Ibstock residents will be signposted there as well, the spokesperson added.

A mobile library, which has been visiting the village each week since the volunteers handed back their keys in March, will continue to serve residents.

However, these visits will be reduced to once every three weeks.

Cabinet member for libraries, Christine Radford, said during the meeting: “I’m reluctant, but I’ve got to support the recommendation to close the library in Ibstock.

“I want to thank the trustees and volunteers at Ibstock for their sterling work in the past few years. They did a fantastic job.”

Future use of the empty space would be considered by the council in due course.

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