Hay Library moved into the new premises at the school, with some funding from the Welsh Assembly. They got some extra funding from Hay Festival so it could open for longer hours than Powys County Council were prepared to pay for.
All seemed well - but now there's a new round of spending cuts coming up again, and libraries are in the firing line once again.
Powys County Council are proposing to cut the funding for staff at Hay and nine other libraries. They want to make a saving of £200,000. Ironically, the old library building is on sale for around that price.
Overall, Powys County Council need to find savings of £14 million in the coming financial year, and a further £20 million up to 2023. Gareth Ratcliffe has posted a copy of the letter from County Councillor Rachel Powell explaining this, and suggesting that anyone with ideas on how to keep the libraries running should contact the Chief Librarian Kay Thomas on kay.thomas@powys.gov.uk
There's a good team of volunteers at Hay Library, but they cannot run the place on their own, nor should they be expected to. Libraries need professional staff, and they need them more than ever now, when libraries are contact points to find out about things that used to be provided by a dedicated County Council office in Hay, like information on benefits and housing.
Powys County Council are having a consultation process, and as part of this they are holding an drop in session at Hay Library on Monday 4th February from 10am to 12 noon (how they expect people who are at work to attend I don't know).
HOWLS, the Hay-on-Wye Library Supporters group, will be meeting in the Library on Wednesday 20th February at 7pm to discuss this latest threat to the future of the library.
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