Library services in Grimsby and Cleethorpes could be relocated following a consultation which was launched earlier this year.
Councillors will meet this Thursday to discuss the potential ‘co-location’ of Cleethorpes Library and Grimsby Central Library within other facilities such as shopping centres or leisure centres.
According to North East Lincolnshire Council the idea came about after consultation and engagement with local communities and other stakeholders, which is being used to “deliver the future service in line with the needs of our residents, the Council’s strategic priorities and available resource.” If the idea were to go ahead it would free up the properties on Alexandra Road and Town Hall Square to make way for other developments, or leave them vacant.
The suggestion has already proven controversial, with many concerned about what this would mean for the historic library building in Grimsby, and the future of archival and library services borough-wide.
North East Lincolnshire Council’s consultation process has also come under fire once again after Independent Councillor Paul Henderson said the outcome of the recent review of library services was “predetermined” and “designed to prove a point”.
Councillor Henderson said he is “deeply concerned” about the future of Grimsby Library, stating that in his view the Council is “starting to use the consultation to reinforce their arguments about the future of the town, rather than reading what people are saying.”
Speaking to Gi Grimsby News, he said: “They’ve undertaken a consultation which they are doing in a number of phases. Phase one’s mission was to find out what people wanted from library services, so it wasn’t specifically about the main library building, or Cleethorpes Library. It was asking what the public wants.
“It was asking questions such as usage of library services going down why do you think that is- but really the way that we consume information has changed, and our needs have changed and libraries have had to adapt to that.
“It was asking questions like ‘do you think the library is in a convenient place, how would you feel about a library being located in a shopping centre, or a leisure centre or core located with other services’, for example. And so, some people will have replied, in principle, ‘not a bad idea’.
“So what the council has done, is they’ve taken that information and reverse engineered that into reinforcing it’s argument that people don’t want the library in the town, they’re ‘happy for it to go into a shopping centre’, and for Cleethorpes, they’re ‘happy for it to go into the Leisure centre.’
“I don’t think that’s what people are saying, and I think you can twist the data to suggest that’s what they are saying. I think its another example of a Council consultation that’s been designed with the end in mind, which is a view that we should move the library out of the library and put it somewhere else, like Freshney Place, which obviously I would be against.
“It is yet another example of using a public service to prop up a retail development.
“So, I’m really concerned about the future of our iconic library building. It’s an example of brutalist architecture, including the designs by Peter Todd, who was a well respected artist.
“The building has a unique place in the town centre, and the views from the top of it are amazing. We were given a grant to basically do it up, as it has some challenges, and my suspicion is that grant will be taken off the library and used for something else.”
Just last week the Council revealed it will be reallocating funds from the Green Skills Hub project, £4.2m of which was previously intended to be spent on bringing the upper floors of Grimsby Library back into use, to pay for the additional £19m needed to pay for the Freshney Place regeneration project.
Councillor Henderson continued: “Phase Two of the consultation will be looking at saying ‘okay you’ve said you’re open to putting the library somewhere else, here’s some ideas – should we put it in Freshney Place, should we get rid of the library in the town centre?’
“The reason that the library in the town centre isn’t as busy as it was could be down the fact there are no public toilets in there, they’ve moved the bus stop and they’ve not invested in keeping the building nice and tidy, its got uncertain opening hours, so the public often want to use the services and find it is closed.
“It was a really lively and vibrant place, but when you start to disinvest in services like this, then they stopped being used and you disinvest in them even more, and before you know it you’re on a slippery slope to closing the facility down, whereas really the answer should have been to create services people want.
“I’ve written to the officer in charge of the consultation to ask for certainty that the library will not be closed and disposed of, and I am awaiting a response.
“It’s yet another consultation that is designed to prove a point, that the council have already predetermined.
“They said they were doing a consultation, which they have done. Now they’re not starting to publish the findings, and I’m not convinced that what they are publishing is what the public said and what the public wants. I’m really concerned that they are going to shut the library which would be a massive loss of amenity to the town centre.”
Part of the Gi Grimsby News team since 2020.