Villagers will stage a demonstration about the closure of their library this week as the decision day about its future looms closer. 

Rutland County Council is consulting on the future of Ryhall Library. The authority says repairs will cost much more than they had budgeted and so unlike the county's other three libraries at Uppingham, Oakham and Ketton, which will get investment, Ryhall Library could be shut. 

The building also provides a warm space and social group to elderly villagers throughout the week and on Friday (February 7), the users will pick up their banners to show how much they want the service in its current location to remain. 

A consultation began last week and ends at midnight on February 26, the day before the full council will make a decision on the budget for the year ahead. As the library closure is part of these budget papers it is currently the case that the library building's future will be decided then.  

Ryhall Parish Council and a newly sprouted campaign group have been rushing around to look at ways to save the building and offer a community library service instead, but feel like there has been little assistance from the county council. 

The community has come out in force to protest the closue of Ryhall Library (Photo: LDRS)

Parish councillor Andrew Nebel says there are a number of issues with the consultation and that the parish council has raised a formal complaint with the authority. They say they will take it further to the local government ombudsman if necessary. 

Their concerns are the consultation time is too short and lacking in detail. Residents believe it appears a consultation was only considered after protests. The wording on the consultation page says that 'no definitive decisions have been made'. 

Cabinet member for communities Christine Wise (Lib Dem) has said the council would look forward to innovative ideas from the library campaigners, but they say they need more information from the authority. The council has said a sum of £250,000 is needed to rejuvenate the building, but has not provided a breakdown of costs.  

Cllr Nebel said: "The information provided to enable the consultation to be based on a full understanding of the issues is not available. The 2021 RIBA survey is not available, nor is the electrical survey; the scope of works which are alleged to cost £250,000 are not available for scrutiny; where is the legally required impact assessment showing how disadvantaged communities will be affected by the closure?" 

Councillor Kevin Corby is the ward councillor for Ryhall (Photo: LDRS)

The ward county councillor for Ryhall Kevin Corby (independent) has asked to see the estimated costings, as he is entitled to do, but is still waiting for an appointment with the relevant officer. 

He said: "We are getting no further with the county council at the minute." 

The parish council also has concerns about the £950,000 which had been pledged to the library service and the new living well service which has been set up by the council and combines its library, health, wellbeing and adult learning services into one.  

Money had come from developer contributions, capital grants and Arts Council's National Libraries Improvement fund and the council has said it has informed the government's  Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport and the Arts Council of the Ryhall situation and that it 'must explore alternative options for delivering library services' in the village. 

The former Rutland Adult Learning and Skills Service (RALSS) has been scrapped and replaced by the living well offer and the change has also seen the authority stop running the school sports partnership, a sudden move which upset Rutland head teachers. 

Charlotte Davis is the Chairperson of Ryhall Library Action Group and runs the warm welcome group (Photo: LDRS)

Chairperson of Ryhall Library Action Group Charlotte Davis, who runs the warm welcome group, said: "We are desperate to keep the library and that could mean the parish council taking it on. We don't think it will cost £250,000 to fix it. We wrote to Cllr Wise to ask if she would visit the library and she said yes, so that's great." 

The demonstration will happen on Friday at 3.30pm at the library in Coppice Road, Ryhall.

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READ MORE: Community wants to take over library following threatened closure by Rutland Council

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