A Brief History
During the Summer of 2018 it became clear that Castle Cary would lose its library as a result of a cost-cutting exercise by the County Council, unless the community was prepared to largely resource it themselves. Offers of practical help came flooding in, with many people signing up to become Friends of the Library.
A small steering group was set up which later achieved charitable status as the Friends of Castle Cary Community Library. Significant financial contributions from the local councils meant that a realistic budget for running it could be created. A volunteer team was formed to manage and staff the library. The Friends were thus able to enter a formal Community Partnership with the County Council, under which the County Council helps to finance it for a set period in return for the continued availability of all the books and other resources which the County Library service provides.
Under this new regime, Castle Cary Library continues to serve a wide area centred on the town.
It is one of 145 public libraries linked through the Libraries West which is a partnership between the library services of Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, Poole, Somerset and South Gloucestershire. This enables you to borrow and renew books from any library throughout the consortium area
Meet the Team
The Library is a Registered Charity called the “Friends of Castle Cary Community Library” which is governed by its Trustees. The Trustees are accountable to the membership, (the “Friends”) at an annual general meeting. At present there are five Trustees, Roger Weldhen (Chairman), Laura Tilling, David Terry, Will Vaughan and Peter Marsden. There must be at least four Trustees and no more than eight.
The objects of the Charity are:
“The advancement of education for the public benefit in particular by the provision of library facilities and services for learning, for information, advice and other related library provision for the benefit of the residents and the wider community in Castle Cary, Ansford and the surrounding areas”.
The Trustees are accountable to the Charity Commission and are also responsible for the governance of the library and its finances.
The day to day running of the library is carried out by a Management Team. Currently, the members of this are:
Laura Tilling and Carole Kimberley: Library Managers
Doug Crosse : Treasurer
In addition there are volunteers who provide the following : Library related and fundraising events for children and adults, Safeguarding and Child Protection, Publicity and Marketing, Web and Social media, Maintenance and Health and Safety, Cleaning, Computer Classes, and Home Loans.
Reporting
Here is an update on our first six months of existence. Our plan of course is to keep on getting better!
Castle Cary Community Library Performance Report April-September 2019