CAMPAIGNERS battling to keep Devon’s library service from being reorganised with reduced opening hours could be victorious as a crunch decision over their future approaches.

More than 25,500 people responded to a consultation about the future make-up of Devon’s 50-strong library network, including proposals to slash hours by nearly a third and to group libraries together in local areas.

But a report prepared for Devon County Council’s decision-making cabinet is recommending the proposed grouping of libraries is scrapped, while one of three options for staffed opening hours suggests no cuts to the existing 1,294 weekly hours across the county.

There are two other possible staffing hours options being proposed to cabinet, though, with the first to maintain the original proposed cut of 30 per cent, which would cost the council no extra money, or a 10 per cent reduction that would cost an extra £150,000 per year.

Keeping hours as they are could cost an extra £500,000 annually.

Councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin (Liberal Democrat, Torrington Rural), whose cabinet role includes overseeing libraries, said the cabinet report showed the council had “listened to the consultation responses” and thanked library staff during what she acknowledged had been a “difficult and uncertain time”.

“My preference is for library hours to remain as they are today, while making libraries stronger and more sustainable through investment, partnership with local communities and a transformation programme that can help them weather future financial pressures,” Cllr Cottle-Hunkin said.

Councillors on Devon County Council’s cabinet will be discussing the report at their next meeting.

Elsewhere in the cabinet report there is a proposal to spend £400,000 on rolling out Open Plus to more Devon libraries to enable them to be accessed outside staffed hours.

A trial of the technology in Cullompton has meant the library being accessible for 29 hours extra per week without the need for extra staff. The cash to roll the scheme out more widely came from a £200,000 Arts Council Award, which was then match-funded by £100,000 from each of Libraries Unlimited and Devon County Council.

Plus there could be an extra £100,000 per year for the next two years for Devon’s Book Fund, which would take the annual total to £600,000 for this financial year and next, and library fines could be made a thing of the past.

Looking at the consultation responses, the report shows that only 7 per cent of respondents said they would have been willing to use a neighbouring library if the one in their community was closed.

Such low backing suggests that residents objected to the notion of grouping libraries in an area together, which was aimed at ensuring at least one in a local area was open during normal operating hours.

Half also stated the proposal of reduced hours would impact their ability to visit their library, while more than two-thirds (69 per cent) supported the idea of open access libraries, community-managed libraries and greater use of volunteers.