At a meeting of the full Yorkshire Libraries and Information (YLI) Council held on Friday 30 September, an in principle decision was taken to close the Yorkshire Libraries and Information Music and Drama collection and service as it currently exists. The service is based at Balne Lane Library in Wakefield.

The reduced demand for the service across all 12 Authorities and the consequent fall in use and income has meant that the service is no longer financially viable in its current form.

The 12 local authorities who currently subscribe to the service, Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, East Riding of Yorkshire, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, Wakefield and York, enabling their local groups to enjoy subsidised loans of materials, are no longer able to bridge the gap between income and expenditure. All 12 support the decision to end the service.

Despite cost efficiency measures introduced in 2011/2012, reduced income from loans means that there will be a significant shortfall in funding. In addition to this the set up costs of an enforced move to new premises would add further to the shortfall.

At the Council meeting it was also agreed that a review team made up of officers from several of the member authorities would investigate other ways in which the collection could remain available to the public from April 2012. Possible options include dividing the collection across sub regional library authorities, or gifting the collection or parts of the collection to other authorities, institutions or groups. The team reported back on its findings at the YLI Council meeting of 3 November 2011.

At this meeting it was agreed that the YLI Council would continue to welcome proposals for how the service might continue to be provided to the public from 1st April 2012. The deadline for submission of proposals is 30 November 2011.

See 'Downloads’ for copies of the following:

• copies of the letters sent to all groups who currently use the service
• press statement 4 November 2011
• YLI Council Minutes - 3 Nov 2011, 30 Sep 2011
• Expression of Interest for future Music and Drama Provision
• financial information
• usage statistics
• review information including user survey results