On Saturday 27th April Yetton Together  and Kirkheaton Friends of Library [FoKL] volunteers manned a stall at Morrison’s Supermarket Waterloo to spread the word about Kirkheaton Community Centre and Library and the threat the library is under. People visiting the store were asked to sign a petition supporting the retention of the current level of staffing and funding for Kirkheaton Library.Under a new cost cutting exercise the council now propose the withdrawal of all financial support including staffing, for 8 libraries including Kirkheaton. They propose that these libraries will be “community financed and managed”.

The possible removal of this council support  has huge implications for Kirkheaton for, as well as increasing the burden on the Friends of Kirkheaton Library, it endangers the very viability of the building as a community centre. As the only public library in a building not owned or asset transferred by the council, Kirklees pay a rent for its presence in the building to Yetton Together who in turn pay rent to its landlord, Kirkheaton Parish Church. Withdrawal of this rent would make the future of the Community Centre less sustainable in the long term.

Our thanks go to Morrison’s for supporting us in allowing us to use their store as a platform to spread our message.

To sign the petition click here