A consultation exercise on Oxfordshire County Council’s mobile library service started on Monday 6 October. This consultation is predominately aimed at service users and will run from Monday 6 October to Wednesday 31 December.
Background and proposal
We have recently reviewed our mobile library service and found that whilst the service is clearly valued, many of the stops we currently offer are not very well used, and some are not used at all. We believe we can better serve the needs of people who find it difficult to get to library buildings by joining up our mobile services and delivering them in a different way.
Our proposal is that our seven mobile vehicles will remain in service but will be used in a different and better way – providing better stopping places with longer stops. There will also be an improved home library service for housebound people.
There will be no financial cuts to the mobile library service budget and everybody who currently uses our mobile library service will continue to receive a level of provision. It may however be offered in a different way.
The proposal will require us to use our mobile library service vehicles in a different way and we propose to have:
- Four general service vehicles serving communities.
- One dedicated home library service van delivering to individuals who are housebound and would not otherwise have access to our library services. This vehicle will also deliver to care homes and nursing homes and will complement, support and grow the service already provided by our home library service volunteers.
- Two mobile vehicles visiting primary schools to promote reading for pleasure.
Consultation and supporting information
We have set out the details of our proposal in a consultation document that is available on all mobile library vehicles and is also published on the county council website http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mobilelibraries. Letters have been sent to mobile library service customers to inform them of the consultation and staff on the mobile library vehicles have been briefed to help answer customer queries.
If you have a specific query about the mobile library service consultation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes
Jillian Southwell
Library Service Manager