HAMPSHIRE County Council is seeking residents’ views on how its library service can be transformed and modernised to meet the changing needs of people in the 21st Century.

At his decision day last Friday, the county council’s executive member for culture, recreation and heritage, Andrew Gibson, approved plans for a public consultation on the draft library strategy which looks to develop a sustainable and vibrant library service for people who live, work and study in Hampshire.

He said: “Since libraries first opened there have been significant changes in the way people access and read books – and they are now using libraries differently. It is clear that what we need is a sharp focus for this important service to ensure it is properly positioned to meet the evolving needs of the community it serves.

“There are, without doubt, challenges ahead but we are committed to running a modern and sustainable library service that is able to change with the times.”

He added: “I would emphasise that the proposals within the library strategy have been informed by a considerable amount of detailed information and analysis of various aspects of the library service, together with the outcomes from a focussed market research exercise. It is important we now hear the views of residents on our proposals.”

Hampshire runs one of the largest library services in England with 48 libraries, including those in Alton, Bordon and Petersfield, an increasingly busy online service, as well as mobile and home library services.

The draft strategy proposes a number of changes, backed by a four-year investment programme, to make libraries modern and vibrant, developing staff and volunteers, installing self-service technology in all libraries, and improving public access to the latest technology.

In addition, the strategy includes suggestions for how the library service can be made more sustainable through savings and investments.

The proposals include plans to place libraries into four different tiers to provide a standardised approach to services within each tier, invest £500,000 every year for four years from the £2 million Book Fund to make libraries modern and vibrant making best use of new technology and digital systems, permanently reduce the Book Fund by £500,000 from 2020, review the costly mobile library service and investigate modern alternatives, review the future viability of static libraries using an agreed set of criteria, increase the use of trained volunteers to support the work of paid library staff, and phase a withdrawal of poorly used library collections (CDs, games, DVDs) and transfer other specialist collections to other providers.

The consultation process began on Monday and will close on January 16.

The draft strategy and the consultation questionnaire are available at hants.gov.uk/library and will be available in print from all Hampshire libraries and mobile library stops.