Confusion over the future of town's library

A town's library users have been reassured the facility was not closing despite a social media post suggesting its future was in doubt.

In a post on Facebook, which has since been deleted, Raunds Library said it faced closure due to "financial pressures" on Creating Tomorrow Trust (CTT), its lead funding partner.

A statement issued by North Northamptonshire Council insisted it was "business as usual for the library", but CTT said it remained in discussion with the authority after a review of its arrangement to run the site.

The Conservative-controlled council said the library was run as a three-way partnership between itself, CTT and Raunds Community Library Trust (RCLT).

Raunds was one of 21 libraries threatened with closure in 2018 by the now-defunct Northamptonshire County Council.

It became a community library, renting premises from the former authority.

However it was handed over to local volunteers last year after CTT - which provides opportunities for students with learning difficulties - and RCLT stepped in.

The deleted Facebook post said CCT was "having to leave the partnership" and that "the services the library offers will be lost to the town".

In response, Helen Howell, the council's deputy leader, said she was disappointed by the "misleading" post shared by RCLT.

She said: "It is not in the interests of effective partnership working for one partner to make statements about another without prior agreement."

In a statement CTT said: "The financial pressures of the [special educational needs and disability] Send education sector are well-documented and understood and we are not immune to them.

"Since we initially started the discussion with [the council] in early 2022 about Raunds library, these pressures have greatly increased.

"The priority for CTT is to ensure any partnership we enter in to adds significant value to our student population alongside supporting the wider community. Having reviewed the arrangement to operate the library, we have regrettably concluded that it has not always met our original intentions."

CTT said it remained in discussion with the council "to ensure the best possible option going forwards".

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