Fears are being voiced about the future of the “lifeline” mobile library service to communities throughout Wester Ross and Lochalsh.
The bulk of the distinctive yellow library vans are at the end of their life and have been taken off the road, leaving librarians having to run the service with crates of books out of hired Transit vans.
High Life Highland operates the service and Highland Council owns and maintains the ageing fleet.
Recently the fleet has been reduced from 10 vans plus a spare down to seven, but five of those are now Transit vans. It means library users have a much reduced stock to choose from and have to brave all weathers to browse.
Applecross resident Megan MacInnes explained: “The only access communities like Applecross have to a library is the mobile library, which is run out of Gairloch.
“The yellow mobile library vans are a lifeline service and very well used by the primary school children and residents here, who can browse the shelves inside the van and also order books in advance.
“Otherwise we’d have to go to Lochcarron, nearly an hour away, or Dingwall/Kyle which is even further.
“However, our service appears to be under severe threat. Our Gairloch-based van hasn’t been on the road since the new year.
“Our amazing librarian Phil Preston is currently doing the route with a hire van and crates of books, which he has to manually load and unload.
“We can still order books online, but there’s no way to browse the books and it completely doesn’t function as a system as the van is too small for people to get in and everyone has to stand outside in the rain.”
Suzanne Gillies, the class teacher at Applecross Primary School, said: “The children love going out to borrow books from the library and look forward to Phil coming.
“They like the choice of books and also like the fact that they can request new and up-to-date books. I feel that the whole experience motivates them to read.
“It is great that they have this access to quality books. As well as this, they enjoy meeting the wider community on the mobile library. It would be a real loss to lose it.
“Members of the community really rely on the library service too, especially the older people as it is a meeting place and there’s a social aspect to it.”
The service comprises 70 different routes, making 650 stops and covering every community in the Highlands, usually on a three-weekly cycle.
High Life Highland earlier told a Wester Ross community council it was considering a reduction in the frequency of the services. However there are fears that this could lead to the loss of jobs.
In a joint statement, High Life Highland and Highland Council said: “Both organisations are working together to better understand how such services can be delivered including accessibility and customer needs.
“This will also help to inform replacement fleet requirements and to establish specifications and costs.
“High Life Highland is providing an alternative service for rural customers with the option of a drop-off of books to their communities to ensure that they have access to reading material and schools are also given the option of a drop-off of books to their building.
“We recognise that mobile libraries are an essential part of life in the Highlands and while this service is not a like for like replacement, it may help to ease some of the difficulties for the most vulnerable and isolated service users during this time.”
ARTICLE BY JACKIE MACKENZIE