Scone residents greatly concerned their local library is also under threat

Scone Library was not included in the list of Perth and Kinross libraries under review so users were shocked to learn it too could close

There was standing room only last week as library users in Scone met to launch a campaign after discovering their local library is also under threat.

When Perth and Kinross councillors agreed at the 2024/25 budget meeting in February to allocate £191,000 to Culture Perth and Kinross to find "local solutions for library services" over the next year, there was no mention of Scone Library being under review.

Residents in Scone were shocked to learn - only a few weeks ago - that Scone Library's future was also in doubt.

Previously, councillors had been told the futures of seven libraries - Alyth, Auchterarder, Birnam, Comrie, North Inch (Perth), Pitlochry and Coupar Angus - were being reviewed. In June 2024 councillors voted to invest £8.7 million in a new community campus in Pitlochry which would see the Highland Perthshire town's library relocated to Pitlochry High School.

Over 135 people attended the meeting on Thursday, October 3 - held at the Robert Douglas Memorial Institute in Scone - as residents came together to launch a campaign to save their local library. It was organised by local resident Kevin Gates. Fellow library users packed out the meeting room and stood outside in corridors to share their concerns.

Kevin said: "All Scone Library users received an email on August 23, 2024 announcing a review and it enclosed a very simple questionnaire/survey about alternative models of delivery. That was the first indication of Scone Library being included in any Culture Perth and Kinross review process."

Kevin said the shock announcement "touched a nerve in the village" and added: "It is such an important part of community life and brings so much to a village which is destined to considerably grow in size over the next few years. The amazing turnout at the meeting was a revelation and showed the strength of feeling around this subject. Rallying round like this certainly demonstrates to our local council and Culture Perth and Kinross that they need to ensure the consultation process is a genuine attempt to shape a library to meet community needs and not merely a closure exercise."

Residents believe the facility is an integral part of the village.

The Scone resident added: "It was agreed the library is a key component of village life offering much more than book lending but delivering wellness, educational and health benefits in a village bereft of other council-funded facilities."

An action group will now be set up and seek to ensure that "community sensitivities and needs are acknowledged and protected" as part of the review process.

Strathmore councillor Hugh Anderson attended last Thursday's meeting.

The Conservative councillor said: "Scone has been awakened to the danger of losing the library. It was an excellent public meeting. There is great concern in the community for it.

The Strathmore councillor had been surprised to learn Scone was under threat too when it was not included in the list of libraries under review which went before councillors during 2024/25 budget discussions.

He said: "There was no mention of Scone. It was omitted by the administration, some typing error or whatever but they missed Scone out. It was only after that we realised Scone was on it."

Cllr Anderson recalls when Scone's purpose-built facility on Sandy Road opened in 1990. There has been a library in the village since 1917.

Cllr Anderson is also keen to see library provision continue in Alyth and Coupar Angus, which were both on the original list of libraries under threat and are also in his Strathmore ward. The library in Coupar Angus had been closed since 2019 due to works at Coupar Angus Town Hall. Locals rescued the books from the old library, and recently opened a fully independent community library in the town's new Strathmore Community Hub which is being run by volunteers.

He said: "I've asked for full costings of operations at Scone and in Alyth as well."

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Scotland (CILIPS) recently wrote to every Perth and Kinross councillor stressing deep concern about the proposals. The professional body told councillors local authorities "have a legal duty to provide library services that their community needs".

Cllr Anderson - who received the letter which pointed out the Perth and Kinross library proposals could be illegal - said: "That's being investigated just now."

Culture Perth and Kinross is understood to now be collating and reading all the questionnaire responses to its recent consultation before engaging further with library members.

In a previous statement a spokesperson for Culture Perth and Kinross said: "We know that library services are highly valued however the current model of service provision is no longer sustainable.

"Options include supporting community-led provision, click and collect style services and increased mobile library activity. "

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