Our Vision is to make libraries in Shropshire the heart of their communities. We will work in partnership with others to empower everyone to live healthy, resilient and fulfilling lives, and provide library services that inspire people’s learning and enjoyment. We will do this by providing access to books and information both physical and digital, by providing supportive community spaces that are open to all, and by enabling people to improve their life chances.

To address this Shropshire Council is taking a locality approach to commissioning services. Engagement with local partners to support and retain the local delivery of a range of services and activities is a vital component of this work.

For the library service this has meant working within local communities to find sustainable solutions that secure library provision for the future. It has been recognised that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, so approaches have varied depending on local circumstances and priorities.

Current details regarding the library provision in Church Stretton are available on our website at new.shropshire.gov.uk/libraries/find-a-library/church-stretton-library/ .

The Community Right to Challenge process is the approach being taken to secure the continuation of a library service in Church Stretton. For more details of this process, please visit shropshire.gov.uk/doing-business-with-shropshire-council/community-right-to-challenge/ 

We have received expressions of interest from organisations setting out how the library service in Church Stretton could be operated. Your views are now needed to help shape the criteria used in the procurement process by expressing the relative importance of key factors for a successful library service.

The information gathered will be used to influence the criteria of any tenders submitted for the future running of the library.

Following on from this engagement exercise, a formal opportunity will be opened for any organisation to submit their full proposals for the operation of a library service for the town. It is expected that new arrangements for the library service will be in place by the summer of 2018.

Please note, only one online response can be submitted per device. However, if other members of your household would also like to submit a response, paper copies can be collected from the library, the town council office, the Mayfair Community Centre or the leisure centre.

Click on the 'How to get involved' tab near the top of the page to access our short online feedback form.

A subsequent consultation on this subject summarised the feedback we received from this one under the "Summary of feedback from the recent consultation exercise" heading.