Staffordshire County Council is currently holding a consultation on the future of libraries and Karen knows from her postbag that many of her constituents are concerned about the possible changes.  

She said:

"The internet and massive growth in e-readers has meant that libraries have had to try to keep pace with people's changing needs and how they want to access information, but this has not always been a success and the number of people visiting libraries and borrowing library stock is continuing to fall. 

"So in order to protect our precious libraries for future generations, we need to make sure that they start doing things differently, offering a more flexible service that is responsive to the wishes of the local community they serve. 

"In Werrington we have a perfect example of the kind of innovation that will help to preserve our libraries, with Cllr David Shaw's fantastic plan to turn the local library into a Community Station with a library which could host tea and coffee mornings for lonely residents, activity sessions, art displays and other events.

"With inventive local plans like this, we can make real, positive, changes to the way our libraries work, but you need to tell the County Council what you think.  You can contribute to the consultation by visiting this website: http://bit.ly/1yCc0eW."

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