Ackworth Community Library - 01977 625617

Ackworth Community Library is a busy place with an interesting background.

We opened on 1st March 2013 after the village library that had been run by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council (WMDC) was closed on 31st January 2013.

Determined to keep the library alive, we quickly put together a business plan which was approved by WMDC. As a result they gave us a start-up grant of £12,500 and also left us most of the furniture, fixtures and fittings along with some of the older books they had stocked.

Ackworth Parish Council, who own the building where the library is sited, generously agreed to lease the library room to us for a peppercorn rent and in addition gave us a grant of over £11,000 to cover all of our initial costs. These included items such as insurance, the replacement equipment we needed to install, the purchase of an electronic library catalogue and signage.

We were also fortunate to be able to take over some of the computers and equipment that belonged to the Ahead charity, which had been based in the Centre but reluctantly closed down around this time.

Having investigated the fate and demise of a number of volunteer run libraries elsewhere in the country we made the decision to employ someone to manage the facility. Leah Bruce-May, our library manager, leads and guides the staff and volunteers who are so crucial to our day-to-day running.

Thanks to the generosity and good will of our members we now have more books on our catalogue than when the library was managed by WMDC. We share all our stock with the community libraries in Altofts, Upton and Walton, which means that we have access to an even greater range of material than appears on our shelves.

Since opening as a Community Library we have begun to start purchasing new equipment to replace some of the older items. Our events calendar has also grown, reflecting our ethos that Ackworth Community Library is ‘more than just books’. We hold regular coffee mornings, readers’ groups and children’s activities as well an annual Autumn Craft Fair and Christmas Fair. Details of all upcoming activities can be found on our events page https://ackworthcommunitylibrary.wordpress.com/news-events/please come and join us.

Trustees
Our library is guided and managed by trustees appointed under the rules of our Constitution and the Charity Commission. The current trustees are: Tom Peacock (Chairman), Neville Andrews (Treasurer), Meg Andrews and Dorothy Short.

Staff
We currently have three members of paid staff: Leah Bruce-May (Library Manager), Debbie Flood (Library Assistant) and Melanie Jopling (Schools Project Coordinator).

Volunteers
Our fantastic team of volunteers range from 15 to 94 years of age and have helped to keep the library open over the last four and a half years. They carry out a range of roles including (but not limited to!) assisting during opening times, helping to run workshops, activities and events, leading our readers’ group, serving tea and coffee, delivering books, fundraising, publicity, website development, cleaning and carrying out maintenance work.

Our volunteers are: Neville Andrews, Pauline Berry, Chris Cook, Claire Davis, Sandra Dawson, Stuart Ensor, Liz Fisher Rob Fisher, Brenda Goulding, Terry McCroakam, Freda Moore, Susan Oldfield, Sandra Peacock, Geoff Robinson, Roksandra Royakova-Doychinova, Dorothy Short and Louise Yelland. We also have volunteers who spend time with us whilst working towards their Duke of Edinburgh award.