WITH the library service in Cornwall under threat from county council budget cuts, one East Cornwall village has taken up the initiative to create its own micro-library.

Stoke Climsland is soon to have its own mini library service thanks to the trustees of the Old School community centre who have been busy liaising with Cornwall Council in a bid to set up a micro-library in the building.

Cornwall Council recently held a public consultation looking at ways the library service could be delivered in the future, encouraging community groups, town and parish councils or stakeholders to look into taking over the running of the libraries to help the council make savings of £1.8-million from the existing £4-million library budget.

Stoke Climsland residents' nearest main library is in Callington, but there is a mobile library that visits the village occasionally.

The idea behind the micro-library has been brewing for just over a year and after many meetings with Cornwall Council, the trustees are now just waiting to sign contracts before getting the new service up and running.

Chairman of the trustees John Wilmut said: 'It has been a bit of a drawn out process but we have just had what I hope was the final meeting with Cornwall Council. The idea has been designed and now we are just waiting for the final approval.'

The micro-library will be based in the Old School and will house a collection of around 250 books, which will include fiction, non-fiction and children's books. There will also be a computer available to view the online library catalogue as well as other online services, including the online reference library and access to Cornwall Council's website.

Mr Wilmut said: 'The Old School is open most of the time so there will be pretty open access to the library. There will be a dedicated space for it with shelving and a computer. It will be self service so people will check the books in and out themselves manually.'

'There will be a Cornwall Council librarian that will come round once a month to change the stock and people can request a book, which will come in the next time the librarian comes. We also have somebody in the parish who is a retired librarian who has agreed to look after the micro-library on our behalf and make sure it is kept tidy.'

The trustees feel it is important that the books that are borrowed are recorded because it will prove that the library is used and therefore needed in the community and will help the library service to identify the type of books that the readership using the library prefers, helping to ensure the right types of books are sent to refresh the collection each month.

'There has been a mobile library that comes through Stoke Climsland but it doesn't stop at so many places anymore,' said Mr Wilmut. 'We are lucky to still have it, but once the micro-library is set up, the mobile library will stop. People do go into Callington to use the library but what we are going to try to do is persuade people that this will be a better place to come to. We are novices in this but we will learn as we go. Obviously we can't compete with Callington Library but we can offer a nice environment for people to come to.

'In these days when services are getting cut back, this is one way forward.'

The trustees hope that the micro-library will be up and running by late August, early September and have someone lined up to purchase the shelving and computer and install them as soon as the contract is signed. Cornwall Council has agreed to provide a sum of money to reimburse the trustees for the cost of the equipment.

'We think the micro-library is worth doing and we will do our best with it,' said Mr Wilmut.