Fife’s closure-threatened libraries have been thrown a potential lifeline.
Just a month after a controversial decision to sound the death knell for 16 libraries across the region, councillors have ordered a rethink which could keep them open for at least another year.
In an unexpected turn of events, members of the council’s education, health and social care scrutiny committee have thrown the issue back to the powerful executive committee and told them to look at other ways to make the required savings.
They have also asked Fife Council for one-off funding of £571,000 to ensure all 16 affected libraries are kept open for at least another year to allow communities to develop credible alternative ways of running them.
The move, which saw committee chair Susan Leslie use her casting vote to defeat a Labour-led motion backing the original closure decision, will be considered by the executive committee in a week’s time.
If members agree to the request, it will leave Fife Council with a major headache given its current precarious financial position.
The council must find £92 million of savings over the next three years, £813,000 of which was to come from Fife Cultural Trust which runs the libraries.
Campaigners had vowed to fight the closures, with author Val McDermid among those criticising the cost-cutting measure.
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