Peterhead South and Cruden councillor Stephen Smith has said Aberdeenshire Council is failing the local community on access to Cruden Bay Library.
While the library building is due to close in the near future, the council has committed to continuing to provide library services at the village’s primary school and to keep the current library open while plans are made for the move. However, figures obtained by Cllr Smith show that during the past quarter, Cruden Bay Library has been closed on 8 out of the 13 Saturdays it was supposed to open due to “staffing issues”.
Commenting, Cllr Stephen Smith said:
“It’s bad enough that the library building in Cruden Bay is being closed against the wishes of the local community. However, residents took some consolation from the fact that library hours would be maintained at their current level at the new location in the primary school and also at the current library while the preparation for the move is carried out.
“It is therefore completely unacceptable that most of the scheduled Saturday morning openings in the last 3 months haven’t happened, and residents have gone to use the facility and found a locked door and a sign advising it is closed due to staffing issues.
“If people don’t have certainty that the library will be open then they will go elsewhere or simply not use it. It is particularly hard on younger library users as Saturday is one of the few opportunities they had access to complete their Summer Reading Challenge, which the council promoted to encourage reading.
“None of this is encouraging reading or any use of the library service, it is failing the community and Aberdeenshire Council needs to get this sorted out. I have raised this with senior officials and hope and expect to see some progress in this regard very soon.”
