Sir – I have read recent stories and letters in The Oxford Times regarding North Leigh Library with interest and would like to respond. As your readers will know, the county council announced a new model which will see all 43 of its libraries remain open.

In the future, some of Oxfordshire’s libraries will be staffed entirely by the county council, while others will be supported by volunteers from the local community. No library is closing despite what rumour mongers would have you believe.

Oxfordshire County Council’s community library model is predicated on community libraries having a library manager in post. At the moment, North Leigh Library is staffed by a senior library assistant. The library service is currently advertising to appoint a library manager to deliver the required level of support needed to progress this model for the community of North Leigh.

This vacancy is open to any internal candidate who meets the selection criteria. The post of library manager at North Leigh will be appointed on a temporary basis in the first instance to enable us to manage the reduction in paid staff hours as we move to introduce the community-supported model. It has been suggested that the new library manager will be responsible for recruiting volunteers, but this is not the case.

The county council’s library service manager, along with myself as cabinet member, will be seeking to develop a dialogue with the local community to move things forward and deliver a sustainable future for North Leigh Library.

It is my hope that local people will take the opportunity to play their part in the future of their library.

Judith Heathcoat, Cabinet member for Safer and Stronger Communities