Library forced to close as council puts up rent

A community library has been forced to close after the council significantly increased the rent, its manager said.

Danesholme Library in Corby is run entirely by volunteers, after the former Northamptonshire County Council offloaded several libraries in 2018.

Manager Steven Arnold-Cowell said the library was previously paying a peppercorn rent, but this year North Northamptonshire Council raised it to £5,500.

A council spokesperson said: "The rent being offered is at a significant discount to the market rate and is in line with all of the other community managed libraries."

Arnold-Cowell said there was no way they could afford the new rent but is looking for ways to try to reopen the library.

He said most of the outgoings were due to storage heaters which cost around £1,000 a month to run.

A grant application for an upgraded heating system was not successful, but Arnold-Cowell is considering trying again, and has also appealed to local businesses to help fund building improvements.

The council said the library had "very low visitor numbers compared to other community managed libraries", and that the library had struggled with a lack of volunteers "resulting in a reduction of opening hours".

Arnold-Cowell admitted retaining volunteers was a challenge but said they welcomed between 150 and 350 visitors per month, which was "a lot" considering the library was open for 12 hours a week.

A council spokesperson said: "The building came under the ownership of the council on 1 April 2021, and the existing lease at a peppercorn rent was honoured by North Northamptonshire Council.

"That lease has now expired, and the council has reviewed the position and the cost of renting the building as we would do in any similar situation."

It said it was "grateful" to the time and effort put in by local volunteers, and "appreciates the challenges of maintaining this in the long term".

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