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Mobile libraries in Deal, Walmer and Sandwich could be cut

Kent County Council (KCC) is proposing to withdraw more than half of its mobile libraries – including those that stop in Deal, Walmer and Sandwich.

A consultation document, available online, proposes to remove stops that have only had, on average, two or less visitors over the period October 2014 to September 2015, reducing the number of stops from 651 to 283.

That includes a mobile library which visits Station Road in Walmer weekly, and two fortnightly services in Golf Road and Elizabeth Carter in Deal.

A mobile library. Picture: KCC
A mobile library. Picture: KCC

Stops in Burch Avenue and Poulders Gardens in Sandwich are also to be scrapped.

A spokesman for KCC said: “We want to make sure our mobile libraries stop in the places where they benefit our customers most.

“We have looked at a range of criteria when planning routes and stops and we are now asking for your views on our proposals for the service.”

KCC’s idea is to implement a new fortnightly schedule, increasing the minimum stop time from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, and to operate from Tuesday through to Saturday to mitigate the impact of Bank Holiday Mondays.

The spokesman added: “We believe these proposed changes will result in a better service.

“However, there are a number of users who will receive a less frequent service, or those who will no longer be able to visit the mobile at the current stop. This will not mean a loss of a library service; there are alternative services available and these are also outlined within proposals.”

Other changes under the review will see the mobile libraries in Hillcrest Gardens in Walmer as well as in Jarvist Close and Kings Close in Kingsdown move from a Monday to a Thursday, fortnightly instead of weekly. The times will also differ.

The fortnightly stop in Gateway, Douro Place in Dover could be moved from Wednesday morning to a Thursday afternoon.

Visit http://goo.gl/LkrhL6 to have your say on these changes.

The deadline for comments is 5pm on Friday, March 4.

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