District wide boost to libraries

11.22.44am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 13th Apr 2005

This week the Liberal Democrat-run West Berkshire Council will receive a cheque for £456,000 in compensation for construction problems of the Newbury library roof. This money will be invested in essential library services across the whole of the West Berkshire district:

Mike Rodger, Executive Councillor for Culture and Leisure, commented:

"The Liberal Democrat Group at West Berkshire is delighted with the news that the long running saga of the building of the library is now at an end. Our robust stance that was taken has been vindicated and we have received the insurance pay out we deserve. We have been accused by the Tories of poor project management, and this result shows that they were wrong again, and that the fault lay elsewhere. We would like to thank the Officer team for their excellent work in achieving this result."

Cllr Rodger added:

"The Conservatives have only been concerned with library services at Wash Common, the Liberal Democrats have shown that through good management it is not only possible to achieve this, but also to improve services across the whole District. The Liberal Democrats have had an ambitious vision for libraries that has paid off."

The Liberal Democrats will use this payment to reinforce our excellent library service by implementing the following:

1 We will provide another mobile library. This will allow us to increase our service throughout West Berkshire, improving every-one's access, provide better book turn round, better internet access, and longer stays, insuring that Wash Common, Compton and the like, will have a better service than they used to have.

2 We will be in a position to implement the Bookstart Project, a three year government project which will give every child in West Berkshire a Bookstart pack at 8 months, 18 months, and 4 years.

3 We will replace all the computers in all our libraries, providing everyone with the latest technology and excellent internet access.

4 Money will be spent refurbishing the branch libraries, with new shelving, furnishings and redecoration. We'll freshen up Lambourn, Mortimer, Burghfield, Pangborne and Thatcham.

5 We will provide some money to help with the proposed new library at Hungerford.

6 We will look at ways of extending our opening hours, to provide residents with even greater opportunities for access.

7 Finally we will provide further support for the book fund, on top of the £100,000 already agreed this year.

We have a great library service here, as Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate said:

"Newbury Library is doing exactly what a good modern library should do: encouraging the time-honoured virtues of borrowing-and-reading, but linking them to new technologies - and also developing the building as a centre for events. I take my hat off to everyone who works there."

Now our libraries will only get better under the Liberal Democrats.

ENDS