Hampshire County Council are carrying out a review of the libraries cross the county to improve their service. The libraries cost £12,000,000 a year to run and of the 1.32 million population in Hampshire, the library service has 203,409 active members. It costs £58 per year for every library user to run the service and the cost for every book loan is £2.23. It is fair to say that digital technology has made our need for libraries less and less as demand for libraries has declined over the last 20 years.
The last time I entered one was for by GCSE school projects, but I am firmly against any closures as they provide an essential focal point for many people in the community who are not computer users, or take part in the vast array of activities the library organises.
HCC are holding a consultation to “help transform and modernise the service” but a key part of this ‘improvement’ will be to identify which branches to close. Our nearest alternative branches are Waterlooville and Petersfield so please click on the links below to read more and have your say. The consultation runs from the 2nd November 2015 to the 16th January 2016 and you can download the strategy document on this link here: Library Service Transformation Draft Strategy to 2020 and to complete the survey please visit Library Consultation Link
horndeanmatters 
I would be very sad to see it go but do feel guilty that I don’t use it as much as I used to
But you might, if you needed to check on a point of law, in which case the answer can be found in the reference section.
Why did Petersfield Council spend nearly one million on a major revamp to their library?
All this talk about rationalising libraries and waste centres is nothing but a shoddy exercise in cost cutting. Instead of throwing many billions at the EU, let’s get out and spend that money,( ie our contribution )to strengthen vital services, namely the police, the fire service and the NHS.
Hi John,
Seeing as we are discussing an academic topic I ought to point out that there is no ‘Petersfield council’ but Hampshire County Council look after the libraries and that they have spent money revamping Petersfield (and many others) is surely good news for those that use them?
Libraries are becoming less and less used. the same as high street shops and banks. If you wish HCC to carry on spending the same money on a service that has less and less demand on it year on year then write to Marge Harvey, our County Councillor. As far as the waste recycling facilities go, Waterloovilles’ small thing has been replaced with a much larger waste recycling facility. Havants too as well as others. As you have stated there is cost cutting at the recycling facilities can you say what exactly has been cost cut bearing in mind the larger and better laid out facilities we now have?
HCC have a massive rising cost in care for the elderly and need to balance their budgets to ensure that this is taken care of. isn’t it right to review where they are spending money and reduce it to a service that is not being well used and divert the money to one that is under growing strain? if they didn’t you would be the first to say they were doing a poor job of managing our council tax.
best wishes
guy.
One set of Councillors falling over themselves to build 700 houses in Horndean, another lot cutting services and facilities; joined up thinking at it’s best!
Hi Len, we have a growing population, our children can’t afford to buy their first homes, and we need to plan in our housing to match our needs. We have been able to do that in the area the community were best able to support and are getting a primary school, community building, playing fields and shops as well as 50 acres of outdoor open space. The care home and care village are also very much needed. I don’t think any of us want more housing but we can see it is needed. The increase is 1.5% a year.
If you can support us by helping complete the consultation then that would be super. Thanks, Guy.