RESIDENTS will be given the opportunity to have their say on the future of their library service.

Members of Northumberland County Council’s cabinet are due to recommend at next Tuesday’s meeting that the authority runs a public consultation on libraries across the county. If the recommendation is approved, a 12-week consultation to gather people’s opinions on how libraries should operate would be held.

The consultation would take the form of an online survey, although paper copies would also be available.

A series of drop-in sessions would be held throughout the county in order for residents to ask questions or provide verbal feedback.

Coun. Cath Homer, the cabinet member for Culture, Arts, Leisure and Tourism, said: “Northumberland’s library service has undergone many changes in recent years. However, we feel that now is the time to look again at the service and make sure that it is serving the needs of our communities.

“We have been committed, since bringing the service back into the council in 2017, to building a stronger and more consistent service, but we now need to ensure that we understand what people value about their library and what they think we could do more of, or improve.

“This consultation will offer people the opportunity to have their say to help us a library service which works for all.

“Even if you’re not currently a regular user of the service, we want to hear from you to understand what could be done to encourage more people to use their library.”

Following next week’s decision, the proposed consultation would start in autumn with the initial findings expected to be released early next year.