Edzell Library update

You may recall that I previously blogged about the fate of the Edzell Library, just one story among many in the UK these days, earlier this year.

The good people at the Edzell Library Action Group sent me an update yesterday, and I will excerpt their words below. You can also find more information here, here and here.

"The Council have said they hope for a Public Meeting in the New Year to discuss with the community the future use and management of Inglis Memorial Hall. The Council have given no precise plans for its important historical aspects. They have claimed they wish to make the library room and old books into some sort of volunteer-staffed ‘museum’ but no detailed ideas have been presented and they have stated if the community do not agree and no volunteers come forward then the proposal will be withdrawn. It currently seems as though the Council appear to be wanting to hand over responsibility for Inglis Memorial Hall to the community. The thought that the Council may be thinking of selling Inglis Memorial Hall gives even greater cause for concern.

Since the closure Edzell has received 2 hours a week mobile library service parked outside the old library. New mobile vans have been promised but confusion exists over many aspects of the proposed service. Start dates, originally presented as imminent, are now uncertain; the new vans still not having been ordered. In November the Council conducted a consultation on the new service where draft timetables showed a proposed increase in mobile hours to an average of 4 hours a week for Edzell.

ELAG do not understand the Council's financial reasonings and believe that if a library service can be provided for 4 hours a week via a van parked for most of the time directly outside Inglis Memorial Hall (as is currently proposed) a library service can equally be provided for 4 hours a week inside Inglis Memorial Hall."