Councillor asked to explain library closure plans

A COUNCILLOR has been challenged to face the public over the controversial closure of a library in Hull.

There has been uproar over plans to shut Anlaby Park Library, in west Hull, and re-route the mobile library service to cover the area, following cuts to council funding. The library - described by city-born actress Maureen Lipman as a “lovely little place” - had over 47,000 visits last year, making it the sixth most popular in the city.

Lib Dem councillor Karen Woods said they’d asked portfolio holder Coun Terry Geraghty to their area committee meeting at the Calvert Centre tomorrow. She said: “As far as I am aware he hasn’t been to the library, talked to staff or spoken to even a single person in the area. I therefore can’t understand how he and the Labour councillors can be confident they are making the right decision.”

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She said the mobile service cost £8.33 a visit, against the £1.62 cost per visit at Anlaby Park library, adding: “People are very upset. “Residents want answers. There has been no public consultation.”

But Coun Geraghty said: “I am not going because at the end of the day the decision about closure doesn’t take place till February 28 (when the council meets to set the budget) and until that date it is not council policy.”

He said Lib Dems should be questioning their leader Nick Clegg over why he’d clawed back £100m from the council, forcing them to make cuts, and said residents would be able to use Fred Moore library or the Gypsyville Centre, both around a mile away.

Other areas weren’t getting away “scot free” as they would see cuts in opening hours.

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But Barbara Bourne, who runs a free craft group on Tuesdays, said there was no public transport to the other libraries, adding: “Most of the people wouldn’t be able to get there because they arrive with their sticks and motorised scooters. It’s too far to walk in spite of what Terry Geraghty says. I am absolutely appalled - there are no other facilities in this area of Hull.”

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