MALTON is to retain a core library under new proposals announced by North Yorkshire County Council yesterday (Tuesday).

The town's library will be one of seven retained across the county with a combination of 60 per cent of current staffing levels and volunteers.

Pickering will become a hybrid library, while Norton, Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside, will be community run with dedicated additional support, including some financial costs.

The authority said it had taken on board the strong message from more than 17,000 responders to its library service consultation that libraries need input from paid staff to survive.

Its executive has approved recommendations to increase the proposed library budget by £175,000 to provide some additional dedicated support to help community libraries get off the ground and develop into the future.

The county council engaged in a wide-ranging consultation on the future of its library service which aims to retain current service provision through partnership working with communities and other agencies in order to achieve a £1.6m saving as part of the authority’s overall budget reduction of £167 million.

Under the recommendations approved, the service will become a networked “family” of libraries through a partnership with volunteers.

Councillor Chris Metcalfe, North Yorkshire’s executive member for library and information services, said: “We hope that today’s decision shows that we have been prepared to listen.

"We have acted on what people have had to say by taking on board the fact people think community-led libraries would need some dedicated support to be successful."

Communities will be given a lead in time of 18 months up to March 2017 to work with the library service on their plans and a further report on progress will be presented to the executive on December 8.

More information is available at northyorks.gov.uk/libraryconsultation