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| Cleethorpes Library - NELC is exploring pull-out from Alexandra Road building |
IT looks a chapter could be set to close for Cleethorpes Library - at least at its present location.
It has emerged that North East Lincolnshire Council is considering relocating its books and other assets several hundred metres down the road to the leisure centre.
This would free up the building on Alexandra Road either for a new use or for demolition to make way for a new development.
At a scrutiny panel meeting next Thursday, councillors will weigh up the pros and cons of co-locating two very different services within the same building.
They will consider a report which states: "Cleethorpes Leisure Centre presents a potential opportunity for the co-location of leisure and library services.
"There would be the benefit of overlap of users - cross-pollination - across different services with a particular focus on young people and families."
Both the library and leisure services are managed by another company, Lincs Inspire, on behalf of the council
Noting that fewer people have been visiting the library since the pandemic, the report adds: "It is important for the council to consider the number of library branches that it provides in combination with continuing its home delivery service."
As a sweetener, NELC suggests the proposal could lead to longer library opening hours.
It insists there would be consultation with the public before any decision is made.
The Grimsby News says: It is hard to muster up much enthusiasm for this idea. True, there would be a savings in building maintenance costs, but does the leisure centre have the space to accommodate all the books and computers? Or would it lead to a cut-down library service with much of the existing stock to be sold off? There are also significant staffing implications. There may be a few overlapping employment skills, but probably not very many. Unless NELC treads warily, this could be a story with a very unhappy ending.
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