Evening opening is to be reduced at Airdrie and Coatbridge libraries, while Chapelhall is to close on Friday afternoons and Saturdays following funding cuts to Culture NL.
The town-centre libraries are currently open until 7pm from Monday to Thursday, but this will now take place on only two evenings per week – with users being asked to choose their preferred days.
Chapelhall will now close at 2pm on Fridays and will no longer open for the three hours from 10am until 1pm on Saturdays as at present; Chryston library will reduce to opening on three days per week instead of the current five, losing its 2-7pm late night, and Moodiesburn will also now shut on Friday afternoons.
The changes were revealed in a public consultation survey launched by Culture NL, which notes that the reductions are necessary because the library service “is required to find over £400,000 of savings”.
It states: “Our focus has been on how we can maximise resources to best advantage for our communities – to this end, we will not close any libraries as part of this savings process but will instead look to reduce opening hours.
“We have looked in detail at data about the delivery of services and know that our libraries are not busy at all times of the day.
“Our proposals focus on reducing hours in some of our libraries at quieter times and ensuring that people continue to have access to services when they are most used.”
The changes for Chapelhall, Moodiesburn and for removing Chryston’s late night, as well as proposals impacting 10 more of North Lanarkshire’s smaller libraries, are described as plans which “cannot be consulted on as they are savings with no alternative option”.
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Airdrie and Coatbridge libraries – respectively located on Wellwynd and in the latter town’s Buchanan Centre – will both retain 7pm opening on Thursdays, which has been identified as “the busiest night” at both.
Users are being asked to choose one other weekday to retain late opening, with the facilities then shutting at 5pm on the other days, as they already do on Fridays and Saturdays.
The views of Chryston library users are wanted to choose which three weekdays it should open, from 10am to 5pm.
An introduction to the library survey adds: “We will be seeking customers’ views on certain opening hours changes where we can offer an element of choice.
“We’ve already made savings by making services more efficient, making better use of technology, providing a wider range of services in our buildings [and are] actively pursuing options to increase income via room lets, the library shop and our digital skills offer.”
A spokesman for Culture NL told the Advertiser: “We remain committed to providing the best possible services to our customers with the resources we have available.
“That’s why we are asking people for their views, such as which evenings are the best to remain open.”
Chapelhall library’s opening times were reduced by 13 hours per week in a previous Culture NL’s savings review in 2016 – which also resulted in the closure of Old Monkland and Petersburn libraries,as well as the closure of seven community centres, including Whifflet and Bargeddie.
The current consultation can be completed at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/libraryopeninghours , or on paper at any North Lanarkshire library, by the deadline of August 19.
