Funding for local government is reducing significantly. As a result, Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) are having to make tough choices about how services are run across all departments.
Part of the Library Service savings plan, as agreed by the BHCC Budget Council, includes the closure of Mile Oak Public Library in order to achieve a saving through reduction of premises and staff costs.
We have looked at data on how libraries across the city are currently used and propose closure of the library. The decision was based on the number of customers who use Mile Oak Public Library compared to the other Community Libraries. Mile Oak Public Library averaged 150 visits per month between April 2022 – March 2023. Due to the high costs of running a service within the school premises, the average cost per customer visit is £19.02, compared to 78p for other Brighton and Hove libraries.
We know many of our customers already use more than one of our libraries and that they have access to services seven days a week through the use of Libraries Extra, allowing members to use the library facilities on unstaffed days. We also know many of our customers use our e-library as well as our physical stock.
You can access library services:
We’re proposing that Mile Oak Public Library will close to customers on 21st July 2023.
These are draft proposals, and we welcome your views on them. We would like to hear your views regardless of whether you currently use Mile Oak Public Library.
Your views will enable us to understand the needs of the current and potential Mile Oak Public Library customers and make appropriate provision to meet those needs.
The consultation runs for four weeks from Tuesday 9th May to Monday 5th June 2023.
If you have any questions about this consultation, need help to take part, or need a copy of the information in a different format or another language, please contact us on Library.SupportServices@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Privacy
This consultation is anonymous, although we do ask respondents to complete an optional 'About You' section at the end. You will find more information in that relevant section.
Please make sure that any comments you submit don't include any names or personal details of you or anyone else. For more information about how the data will be stored and processed by Brighton and Hove City Council, please contact the consultation team.
Read the full privacy notice here: Libraries service privacy notice (brighton-hove.gov.uk)
Thank you for taking part in this consultation.