WARNDON is among the libraries earmarked for the extension of Worcestershire’s Libraries Unlocked programme.

The scheme sees libraries open for longer hours but with fewer staffed hours.

It has been rolled out to nine of the county’s 21 libraries so far and Worcestershire County Council is preparing a business case for a further seven locations - Redditch, Bewdley, Warndon, Tenbury, Wythall, Alvechurch and Hagley.

Carol Brown, of Worcestershire’s libraries service, told the council’s corporate and communities scrutiny panel: “Following the success of our first phase of Libraries Unlocked at Droitwich and Stourport libraries, a further 12 locations were identified for phase two.

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“Seven of these have now gone live at Evesham, Pershore, Bromsgrove, Rubery, Kidderminster, St John’s and Malvern.

“The second phase of Libraries Unlocked required just over £370,000 of capital investment and delivered £172,000 of staff savings.

“Whilst we ended up deleting the equivalent of eight full-time library posts, staff redundancies were avoided because we held vacant posts prior to the project.

“So no staff were made redundant - we achieved that also at Droitwich and Stourport.”

She said almost 8,000 people have signed up for Libraries Unlocked membership and libraries had hosted more than 850 hours of “community activity” during Libraries Unlocked opening hours.

The panel heard that other councils running similar schemes have seen an initial dip in overall library visits, followed by an increase in the longer term.

Cllr Karen May said librarians at Rubery and Bromsgrove have told her the project “is the best thing they’ve ever done”.

Cllr Craig Warhurst said there needs to be a bigger focus on getting young people using libraries regularly.

He said older generations “have always used libraries and will keep using them - they got nervous during Covid but will come back”.

“But eventually they’ll pass away and we’ve got to have that footfall coming through,” he said. “Let’s not lose sight of getting under 30s into libraries because if we lose them, we lose libraries.”

Cllr Mike Rouse said: “Young people aren’t coming in to use the computers to surf the internet and open Microsoft Word to work on their CV, which is what those machines are built for.

“They want to do 3D artwork, music production, AI - stuff that’s expensive.”

He added that although he is pleased about the success of Libraries Unlocked, he is less happy about the reduction in staff.

“Librarians provide exceptional value for money,” he said. “In some libraries they become tantamount to social workers. The public would say we need fewer diversity officers, for instance, and more librarians.

“If there’s anyone worth investing in, as a council, it’s a librarian.”