Dartmouth
Library “It’s not just about borrowing books”
By Ginny Farrell F
or many people in Dartmouth, the library is part of the fabric of everyday life. It’s where parents meet with their babies, children
discover a love of reading, older residents find company, and practical tasks like printing documents or accessing the internet can still be done locally. That’s why plans to reduce Dartmouth Library’s opening hours from 37 hours a week to just 15 have caused such widespread concern. A vital lifeline to many, the library is so much more than a book lending service as Ginny Farrell discovered while chatting to the library’s team leader Elena Webster. By the time this appears in print,
the county-wide consultation on library hours will have closed. But locally, the conversation is still very much alive. There’s a shared worry that such a sharp cut would reduce the library to a bare-bones service, leaving little time or capacity for the activities and outreach that make it such a valued part of Dartmouth life. Dartmouth Library is currently open across three full days and three half days. Under the proposals, it would operate for just two and a half days a week, with two full days split by lunchtime clo- sures. For many residents - particularly those working
Dartmouth Library’s team leader Elena Webster
full time - this would make weekday access extremely difficult. “It’s not just about borrowing books,” says Elena
“The more support people show, the better chance we have of keeping as many
services and opening hours as possible for Dartmouth.”
Webster, who runs the library. “People pop in during their lunch break to return some- thing, print a document or ask for help. Those short visits matter and they would be much harder under the proposed hours.” Elena knows first-hand the role
libraries play in helping people feel part of a community. Orig- inally from Russia she moved to the UK more than 20 years ago and settled in Dartmouth in 2005. Back home she was a teacher of modern languages, and when she arrived in England she began working as a relief library assistant before gaining permanent hours later that same year. She has been part of Dart- mouth Library ever since.
When Elena arrived in the UK, her daughter was
nearly seven years old. Joining a children’s reading programme at the local library really helped her settle. “Talking to a librarian about the books she’d read helped to improve her English immensely,” Elena says. “Speaking to someone outside your immediate family or school boosts a child’s confidence. That social side of libraries is so important.” Today, Dartmouth
Library offers a surprising range of
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