Longridge library jobs '˜by no means safe'

After being one of dozens of county libraries threatened with closure under Lancashire County Council’s (LCC) stringent budget cuts, its reprieve announced on May 6, along with all other major LCC decisions on other county service buildings, came as a great relief to manager at Longridge for almost 12 years, Audrey Taylor and her staff.

Audrey retires today from a job she has loved in a library where membership and community activities have increased over the years - but her chief concern now is for her staff.

The LCC consultation on the future of all its service buildings started on May 18, and Audrey said: “The reprieve was positive news for the community but it was only a proposal so I wouldn’t say we are ‘safe’.”

She says customers should fill in the consultation questionnaire, found on the LCC website under ‘Have your say’ and lasts for 12 weeks.

She said: “We have many colleagues in the library service who have been informed their library is one that is proposed for closure and they must be devastated and our hearts go out to them in these uncertain times.

“My staff attended a meeting to find out more about the staffing structure. But their jobs are by no means safe, so, for them the uncertainty continues.”