LIBRARY users in communities across Blaenau Gwent will have better access to books, following a decision to develop the library outreach service.

The council plans to extend its home delivery service and develop a network of community venues. The move will serve those who struggle to access one of the area’s six libraries and save the council £15,500.

There are currently two mobile libraries serving the county – one which directly caters for 196 housebound and visually impaired customers, and one which serves communities more than two miles away from a library building and visits 36 stops a week.

Under the newplan, agreed by the education and leisure scrutiny committee last week, the council will have two smaller vehicles that can cater for more home delivery customers and help to set up and maintain frequently changing collections in local centres.

The council hopes to provide more loan collections to playgroups, nurseries, and schools as soon as April.

The decision follows a review that found that the mobile library, which costs £47,054 to run each year, fails to provide modern service and warned that if it continued to operate in the same way demand will decrease. The newservice is due to be launched in the summer.