August 3, 2015 11.04 am This story is over 102 months old

Last-minute community bid lodged to save Lincoln Boultham library

Boultham saved: A Lincoln library, which was set to close after bidders withdrew their community hub commitment, has been saved.

A community support and learning group has placed a bid in the eleventh hour to run a Lincoln library previously set for closure.

As reported earlier, Lincolnshire County Council said delays to the implementation of library changes after court challenges led to bidders Lincolnshire Co-op backing out of their commitment to Boultham library.

Learning Communities, who are already preparing to run two community hubs in the Ermine and Birchwood areas of the city, have now agreed to take on Boultham too.

Councillor Nick Worth, Executive Member for Libraries, said: “Lincolnshire Co-op was originally in place to run library services in Boultham, but, unfortunately, the hold-ups caused by the legal challenges meant they had to withdraw their offer.

“As a result, we approached Learning Communities, and I’m delighted to say they have agreed to work with us on this additional site.

“I’m sure they’ll do a great job, and we’ll be on hand to help them make the hub a success.”

Lorraine Palmer, Managing Director for Learning Communities, added: “We at Learning Communities are very happy to have been able to step forward to develop a community hub and library service in Boultham.

“As a local registered charity we are committed to doing all we can to support local facilities so we wanted to ensure the library remained open.

“The community hub will provide a multi-purpose centre and library service offering a range of services to meet local needs.”

The first of 30 libraries to undergo the transformation into volunteer-run community hubs were confirmed by the council last month.

The community hubs will receive ongoing professional support, and around £5,000 per year towards their running costs and access to a one-off grant of up to £15,000 for changes to buildings or equipment.