Communities around Bath and North East Somerset are responding to shrinking budgets with plans to open libraries of their own.

Five new facilities could be created in Bishop Sutton, Chew Valley School, Timsbury, Peasedown St John and Whitchurch – with support from the Council, but a greater reliance on charities and

volunteers.

The authority is also looking to convert five of its branch libraries into community hubs, and engaging with the public on plans for Bath’s Central Library after it dropped plans to move it to Lewis House.

At a recent public meeting, Councillor Karen Warrington, Cabinet member for Transformation and Customer Services, said: “Footfall in libraries is dropping. People use books differently now. In many villages you have defunct phone boxes that have become lending libraries – it’s obviously something people want.

“Five communities have come forward, so we will potentially have five new libraries: Bishop Sutton, Chew Valley School, Timsbury, Peasedown St John and Whitchurch. In the Chew Valley we don’t have any libraries, so it’s a great news story. The libraries will be small, but we have to start somewhere – they will evolve over time as more people realise the sort of hubs they could become.”

Cllr Warrington added: “There are also five branch libraries we are looking to convert into community libraries. They are currently run by B&NES Council, but we are looking to make savings. We’ve asked the communities to look at how they might take them on. In Saltford, the residents are taking it on with a small post office that will provide an income.”

Cllr Warrington said the Council will provide support, but it will encourage the communities to use volunteers and charities, like Age UK’s IT advice, to replicate the functions of traditional libraries. She added: “We will help the community put plans together. They will have to be sustainable and viable. We want them to be community spaces, not just libraries.”

Stephen Sumner