May 11, 2018 2.46 pm This story is over 69 months old

Lincoln libraries closed until takeover

Three libraries closed temporarily.

Three Lincoln libraries will be closed until the end of the month while they are transferred to temporary providers.

Birchwood, Ermine and Boultham libraries’ current operator Learning Communities ceased trading on Friday, May 11

While Lincolnshire County Council looks for a long-term solution, the three libraries will be run in the interim by the authority’s main library provider Greenwich Leisure Limited and the existing volunteers.

They will be temporarily closed during the transition, but the council aims to have them open again by Monday, May 21 – with new opening hours.

The Birchwood youth club will also close.

Councillor Nick Worth, Executive Member for Culture, said: “We were sorry to hear about the difficulties faced by Learning Communities. They’ve done a great job at Boultham, Birchwood and Ermine libraries over the last few years, and we really appreciate their efforts.

“We’re very grateful to Greenwich Leisure Limited and particularly the volunteers for stepping up and helping us to keep these libraries open while we look at the long-term options for moving forward.

“There will need to be a temporary, week-long closure to allow for this initial transition, but we hope to have the doors open again by Monday May 21.”

In light of the temporary closure, the loan period on items that have been borrowed from the library has been automatically extended by three weeks.

For more information, library users can contact the Customer Service Centre on 01522 782010.

The county council owns the buildings and outsourced the running of 30 libraries to various charities and volunteers in a cost-saving move in 2015.

Greenwhich Leisure runs the county’s 15 major libraries, including Lincoln Central Library, along with online services.