PLANS TO reduce the opening hours at both Malvern Library and Upton-upon-Severn Library are being considered by Worcestershire County Council in a bid to meet a savings target of £3.7m by 2018/19.
The Libraries and Learning service has had a total of £2.7m savings to make from 2011 to 2016, with £2.4m delivered to date.
Now a further £1m has been added to the savings target, taking the total to more than £3m.
Saving plans include a proposal to reduce library opening hours by 78.5 hours in total across the county, excluding Worcester’s The Hive, and will see Malvern Library’s opening hours reduced by six hours.
The Graham Road site currently opens from 9am to 5.30pm Monday, 9am to 8pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and 9am to 5.30pm between Thursday and Saturdays.
Should proposals go through, the library will close at 5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday along with a new closure time of 4pm on Saturday.
Upton-upon-Severn’s Library faces a slightly bigger reduction of six and a half hours should the cost-cutting plans be given the green light.
The bulk of the cut will see its Saturday opening times cut from 4.30pm to 1pm and its Monday, Wednesday and Friday closure time change from 5.30pm to 4.30pm.
The Upton-upon-Severn Library on School Lane is closed on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s.
Councillor Lucy Hodgson, responsible for localism and communities at Worcestershire County Council, insisted no final decision had been made yet and plans were being talked through.
“We are very proud of our record of keeping every library in Worcestershire open, despite the financial challenges that we are facing,” she said.
“We are currently consulting with staff regarding a number of proposals and seeking their views regarding future operations.
“No decisions have been made and we will consider the views of our staff before the proposals are discussed by the Libraries Board.
“We’re determined that any changes that have to be made have the minimum effect on people who use our libraries across the county.”
