The Conservative Council plans to slash the Libraries budget by 65% by 2020 – from £2.6m to £1.5m.
Under the "emerging model" presented by the Council, only the Central Library would continue in anything like its present form. That’s ONE library for a borough of 216,000 people! The other 14 libraries, including Old Town Library, would all lose their funding.
The Conservative Council plans to slash the Libraries budget by 65% by 2020 – from £2.6m to £1.5m.
Under the "emerging model" presented by the Council, only the Central Library would continue in anything like its present form. That’s ONE library for a borough of 216,000 people! The other 14 libraries, including Old Town Library, would all lose their funding.
Labour believes that Swindon would be deeply impoverished by the loss of its libraries and their staff, and is supporting the “Save Swindon’s Libraries” campaign. If you are concerned about the future of the libraries, please sign the “Save Swindon’s Libraries” petition on Change.org.
Swindon Borough Council has been allocated £826,000 this year and £827,000 next year to offset the worst impacts of funding cuts. It's not a huge amount when set against the size of the cuts, but could mean that the leasing of Lydiard Park, the potential closing of 14 out of 15 libraries and the closure of the Children's Centres could be stopped.