Mobile Libraries and small villages - a luxury that we can't afford?

Yesterday, Suffolk County Council announced the opening of a consultation on the future of mobile libraries across the county. The proposals are designed to save 37.5% of the current budget, reducing spending on this service from £600,000 per annum to £375,000, a sizeable chunk of money when funds are tight.

Naturally, as a parish councillor in a small village, I am concerned. The visit of the mobile library every fortnight for fifteen minutes represents one of the very few visible signs in the parish that the County Council exists, and for elderly residents, it is a social opportunity, a way to keep themselves informed and entertained, and intellectual stimulation.

One of our friendly mobile library staff

According to the County Council, the service costs £7.70 per customer visit, compared to £2.51 for a 'built' library, again a sizeable difference. Visits to mobile libraries are in decline, and the number of books loaned has fallen proportionately. The logic appears simple.

And that's the catch of course. On the basis of those numbers, it would be difficult to defend maintaining the service at its current level. Indeed, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire don't try to, sending their mobile libraries to each location monthly. However, a mobile library is about more than just book borrowing. For a village such as mine, it is a relief from the isolation that those without their own transport experience.

There is no regular bus service, although the community bus provides a means out of the village when it is available. There is no pub, no shop, no school, nothing organised to do unless you do so yourself. Stowmarket is two miles away across the fields, impractical if it is wet, or you have young children, or you're less than entirely mobile. In a village of less than two hundred souls, you can be awfully lonely.

The internet isn't much help either. If you're poor and you live in a village, you might not be able to afford a computer and, if you can, broadband speeds are appallingly low - which explains why the County Council are investing more than £10 million on building the necessary infrastructure to improve matters.

In short, the mobile library matters in a place like Creeting St Peter. Yes, not many people use it - I've never seen it because it parks in The Lane at 11.45 on alternate Friday mornings for fifteen minutes - but perhaps if it came when people were around, it might be better frequented. There are children in the village who read, who might like to pick their own books, and people like me who don't use the library service at all because I'm away at work when library buildings are open.

So I'm keen to have a proper consultation in my village, to find out who uses the mobile library, whether or not the time it comes is relevant, what the impact of reducing the number of visits would be, whether providing transport to Stowmarket would provide an effective alternative. We don't ask for an awful lot in Creeting St Peter, and anything that protects the viability of our community is precious indeed. Which reminds me...