The first progress report since York’s libraries were taken over by a “Community Benefit Society” is to be publicly considered next week The Society holds exempt charitable status & is jointly owned by staff and the community.

The society receives a York Council taxpayer’s subsidy of £1.94 million each year but is expected to make savings of £50,000 next year.

The report reveal’s that, not only are visitor numbers down because of the central Library temporary closure, but book issues are also continuing to decline.

However EBooks and audio downloads are increasing rapidly.

From February 2015 a toy library service will be introduced. Parents, after selecting toys on line, will be able to pick them up from their nearest library. This service replaces the now defunct toy library bus.

The new Archives and Local History Library will open along with the rest of York Explore on 5th January 2015.

The report can be read by clicking here

Performance results can be read by clicking here

Following our story at the weekend, the Council has now said that there was an error in the usage figures they provided for York libraries last year.

The revised figures now issued, in response to the Freedom of Information request, turn what appeared to be a decline in use into a modest increase.

Any impact that the current temporary closure ,of the York central library may have, will be revealed when the 2014/15 figures are released.

Revised York Library visit numbers. click to enlarge

Note – Story update – Council issues revised figures click here

The number of residents using York’s libraries appeared to half last year as rebuilding works took a toll.

The figures were revealed by the York Council in response to a Freedom of Information request

The relatively new library in Rowntree Park increased its visitor numbers to 89,478 putting it second only to Acomb (117,402 visitors) in popularity

Tang Hall library is being moved to a site at Burnholme College while York central library is closed for a refurbishment project

This, Heritage Lottery Fund funded, Gateway To History project is a £1.77m plan to create a 21st century Archive at York Explore. It will be finished in 2016, although the library should reopen later this year.

The Library service – which is now run by a “mutual society” – costs taxpayers around £2.3 million each year.

The mutual society is member run. Two thirds of members are library users, and one third staff.

Any York resident over the age of 16 can become a member for free, and effectively becomes the holder of one share in the society, worth a nominal £1. You have to apply to be a member: do so by emailing contact@exploreyork.org.uk.

Library users don’t have to be members of Explore to use the services.

Every member can vote on the way Explore is run at the annual general meeting.

At the moment there are about 120,000 registered users of library services

There may be some concern that many library users don’t appear – during the period that 2 libraries have been closed – to have transferred their business to other libraries in the City. Neither the new library management company not the Council, have published a business plan showing the assumptions they made on overall library visitor numbers during and after the rebuilding projects.

With an additional library planned as part of the community stadium project in Huntington, future user numbers are likely to be viewed with increased interest. A return to the steady growth, as seen over most of the last decade, will be the least that taxpayers will expect.