And there’s no money in place to put up signs showing them the way in Carmondean and Deans, councillors heard this week.
More than three years after it moved, some people in Livingston don’t know where the local library is.
And there’s no money in place to put up signs showing them the way in Carmondean and Deans, councillors heard this week.
Council officers working on the regeneration of some of the poorest parts of Livingston agreed there was a need to improve use of the £1m council partnership building.
Colin Lewis, from Carmondean Community Council, told a meeting of Livingston North Local Area Committee that he had been “ berated” by a member of the public while campaigning for the upcoming community council elections.
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“They told me ‘you couldn’t even stop them shutting the library’. That’s three years after it was moved. Now it says that signage will be put up when funding is available. As far as we were aware funding for signs was included in the move.”
“Funding is essential,” said Mr Lewis.
Regeneration officer Scott McKillop agreed, adding: “I will feed back that people are unaware, three years down the line, That’s concerning.”
In his report on the regeneration programme Scott said: “In response to community engagement indicating a lack of awareness around the relocation of the library to the partnership centre, a new facility sign, and both updated road and pedestrian signage is planned when funding becomes available.
“In the meantime, a shrub bed that was shielding visibility of the partnership centre from the main road in Carmondean was cut back, and signage related to the old library has been removed.
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“Colleagues are working with the new tenant for the library building to display signposting towards the library’s new location.”
The report added: “Efforts have been undertaken to help utilise the asset of Livingston North Partnership Centre as a base to help target services to those who need it most in the Livingston North areas.
“Access2employment and Skills Development Scotland have based themselves there in addition to the council’s own Customer Information Service and Library Service.”
The library moved during the Covid lockdown, which brought its own difficulties of access to public buildings.
The Partnership Centre was opened in 2021 in a refurbished building that was then known as the Ability Centre, which provides a day support service for adults who have a physical disability.
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The Ability Centre retains its function but also hosts the library and other council services.
Carmondean library, housed in a Sixties building that forms the square around the local shopping centre car park, was moved only a few hundred yards along the same side of the square despite a strident campaign by Carmondean Community Council against the move.
The original building is now a martial arts studio and gym.
The new Partnership building occupies a deeply sloping site from the shopping centre square down to a road running alongside the access to Livingston North railway station. There’s access from both the shopping centre side and the access road below.
The community council had argued for the retention of the original library. It feared that few people would use the new facility because of apparent difficulty of access including sloping, overgrown, pathways leading from the shopping centre.
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A spokesperson for West Lothian Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We have been looking at how to make best use of Livingston North Partnership Centre as a base for essential services to those who need it most in the area.
“Some customer feedback has highlighted there is some lack of awareness about the relocation of the library among some community members, and improved signage is now planned for the future.
“Like every library in West Lothian, Carmondean Library usage is below pre-Covid levels, but are steadily increasing.
“We will continue to look at ways to further promote Carmondean Library and other services in Livingston North Partnership Centre to the local community going forward.”
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