December 1, 2015 1.18 pm This story is over 99 months old

Last 15 Lincolnshire libraries to be outsourced

All change: The last 15 council-run libraries in Lincolnshire will be outsourced to to Greenwich Leisure Limited.

The last 15 council-run libraries in Lincolnshire, including Lincoln Central Library, will be outsourced to to Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), a not-for-profit organisation.

After turning 30 libraries into community hubs run by volunteers in a bid to save £1.9 million, Lincolnshire County Council will have no such facilities left in in service portfolio.

Greenwich Leisure Limited will begin delivering library services in April 2016. It will take on a new model library service agreed in February, not the older model they originally expressed an interest in running.

GLL will run the county’s 15 major libraries, along with online services and specialist support for those unable to reach their nearest library because of, for instance, disability, age or ill health.

GLL will also help support the library services delivered at around 30 community hubs that are being developed in partnership with local groups.

Cllr Nick Worth, Executive Member for Libraries, said: “We’ve worked hard to get the best possible deal, and are confident that GLL can both improve our library services and deliver significant savings.

“In fact, we predict that, once the reduction in our property costs is taken into account, this move will save us a further £500,000 or so.

“And that’s on top of the £1.9 million we’ve already saved by introducing a new way of delivering services.

“At the same time, we still look set to end up with more libraries than we started with,” he added.