Gnosall Parish Council           

You will find a library questionnaire enclosed with this edition of GMK – if you would like to see a community library in Gnosall please take the time to complete and return the short form. To inform our plans and help decide what sort of library we can deliver, it is important that we receive as much feedback as possible from local residents.

Considerable progress has now been made towards re-establishing a library in Gnosall. Our library was unfortunately one of 23 locations closed in Staffordshire during recent County Council cut-backs, but all have been given the option to bid to re-open as a ‘Community Managed’ library. If successful, these libraries will still function as part of the county library system, but can only operate if they are staffed and managed by teams of local volunteers.

Following an encouraging response to our plea for volunteers, a group of local residents has been meeting with parish councillors to discuss how to start the process of submitting a bid to secure a community library for Gnosall. During the first phase of procurement in 2015, 11 locations in Staffordshire successfully bid to re-open their libraries. We in Gnosall now have until July before the end of the second phase to put together a viable application to run a similar ‘community’ service.

The process is complicated and has required considerable input from our group of intrepid volunteers. Before we could register our initial proposals, the first step was to establish a Gnosall Library committee (independent of the Parish Council) with a full written constitution and elected officers. This has been achieved with the election of Trevor Whincup as Chairman. The next stage will be to formalise the group’s standing - with the option of applying for Charitable Incorporated Organisation status currently being considered. Only then will we be in a position to submit a full application and detailed business plan.

Just to complicate matters, Gnosall is the only one of the 23 prospective community libraries that no longer has any premises to re-open, following the demolition of the old school building. We are confident that a suitable location can be secured, but in the meantime options for a temporary accommodation at the Grosvenor Centre are currently being reviewed. 

We have been grateful to the Community Partnership officers from the County Council for their support and guidance through this challenging process and the input of VAST (who provide assistance for voluntary community groups). It is likely that the process will take between eight to twelve months, but hopefully this time next year we will be reporting back on how well the new Gnosall Library is doing. We are still looking for as many volunteers as possible to help out either on the committee or with the practical running and staffing of the library itself. If you are interested in helping out, you can provide your name and number on the questionnaire sheet.