Downpatrick library opening cutbacks

29 October 2014

DOWNPATRICK Library will no longer open on Thursday evenings due to cost-cutting measures taken by Libraries NI.

The local library will now close at 5pm rather than 8pm.

Opening hours at Carryduff and Saintfield libraries will also be varied as a result of the cuts although they will remain open for the same number of hours per week.

Saintfield Library will be closed on Wednesdays, open from 10am until 5pm on Thursdays and from 12pm until 8pm on Tuesdays, while Carryduff Library will open from 11am until 6pm instead of 1pm until 8pm on Wednesdays.

The changes, which will come into effect on Monday, have been implemented to make £1.4m of savings by March after Libraries NI budget was cut by 4.4%.

Libraries NI chief executive Irene Knox said staff deeply regretted having to make reductions and changes, which she said were difficult for staff and customers.

“The impact of these changes cannot be minimised as many in society now rely on the Wi-Fi access, new computer equipment and faster broadband connections available in all libraries,” she said.

“I am grateful to all of the staff in Libraries NI who have worked together in a very positive manner over the last month to reorganise their rotas to facilitate these revised opening hours.

“This is a difficult time for everyone involved, but I know that library staff will continue to do everything that they can to provide high quality services for our customers.”

South Down MLA, Sean Rogers said it is concerning that such valuable frontline services have to be sacrificed in the name of budget cuts and cost saving.

“Recent reports have shown us that literacy and numeracy skills in Northern Ireland are among the lowest in the industrialised world,” he said. “Reducing people’s access to library services does not bode well for our performance in future years.

“I appreciate that those charged with managing the reduced budget have endeavoured to minimise, as best they can, the impact to the public. Management at Libraries NI appears to be fully aware of how dependent some people are on their services to overcome disadvantage. This is particularly true of towns such as Downpatrick.”

Claiming it is no secret that Northern Ireland’s government is catastrophically failing, the SDLP MLA concluded saying:

“Our current government published as its main priority ‘to Grow a sustainable economy and invest in the future’, followed by a second priority ‘to create opportunities and tackle disadvantage’ Reducing access to Library services is an absolute contradiction of this government’s main objectives and raises bigger questions on how far off target we really are.”

For a full list of libraries affected by these changes access the website www.librariesni.org.uk

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder