“We were told to use it or lose it – so we did,” Rebecca Buxton tells me in the playpark across from New Pitsligo Library.
She’s referring to threats over the beloved village facility, with concerns that cash-strapped Aberdeenshire Council could close it circulating for a year now.
In response, local mums ploughed all their efforts into making the most of it – starting clubs and regularly taking their excited kids along to make sure they don’t “spend all of their time on their tablets”.
Despite this, they reckon their worst fears could still come true.
Worries over the library have intensified since a survey was launched in the summer appearing to put its future at risk.
It asked library users in New Pitsligo, Boddam and Strichen how any changes would affect them.
Live Life Aberdeenshire claimed any feedback would help to shape future library services.
But the worried mums fear the council will close the facility for good. And now they are banding together to save it.
What is at risk?
Currently, the village library is open for just six hours a week.
As well as providing books for borrowing, it allows residents to access computers, printers, photocopiers and free Wi-Fi.
A free Lego Club and Chill Out Club are hosted there for young people to relax with their friends after a hard day at school.
Meanwhile, the library is the only registered warm space in New Pitsligo, and the village librarian is also a local historian who offers help with ancestry.
Closure would take ‘safe space’ and beloved librarian from children
However, the mums are worried that closing the library will hit the village’s youngsters hardest.
Cheryl Cooke said the building is a “safe place” for them.
“They are comfortable there and they love our librarian,” she explained.
“She is amazing with them and gives up her free time to make sure that the kids have their clubs.”
Fellow mum Rebecca added: “Kids shouldn’t be on tablets all the time, they need a break from a device in front of their face and have a book instead.
“They are taking a safe space away from the children who desperately need it.”
Chill Out Club is the library’s best chapter
A Chill Out Club is held at the library straight after school, giving young people the chance to wind down after a busy day.
There they can colour-in, complete wordsearches, or get a book to read.
Cheryl explained: “The kids leg it down to get there all excited then they go in, dump their stuff and sit down quietly for an hour.
“You don’t get that anywhere else – and you can’t get them to do that at home.”
Nicola Gordon added: “My eldest children come out of school and go down to the library.
“They choose a book, sit on the sofas and they’ll flutter their way through them.
“They’ll communicate with each other too and to me, that is amazing.”
Bookworms fear venue will be taken away
But it’s not just young people that will be hit by the potential closure.
The mums themselves will feel the brunt of any changes too as the self confessed bookworms run a book club from the library.
Nicola explains that the club opens them up to other genres that they wouldn’t normally choose.
However, the club has had to take a back seat as the ladies fight for the venue’s future.
What could be done to save it?
The mothers believe the library should be open more so that it can become a ‘hub’ for the community.
“Clubs were started up and the school started using it so we thought that was fine.
“But then there was this meeting in the village hall asking what does the community require?”
Cheryl added: “I gave them a list of ideas and we said we would be willing to chip in a little bit for clubs.
“We do understand that there are financial constraints within the council but it shouldn’t be an open and closed subject.”
If the library were to be closed, its services would be moved online – something that has been met with criticism.
Rebecca explained: “I have a four-year-old.
“How do I explain to them that no, you can’t go to the library to pick a book that looks interesting to you, you have to do it on a computer?”
What does the council have to say?
A Live Life Aberdeenshire spokesman said the public engagement in New Pitsligo was “worthwhile”.
However, he stressed that “no decisions” have been made about the venue yet.
The spokesman added: “We acknowledge the concerns that have been expressed by some residents.
“Feedback has been collated and a report prepared which will be considered, initially by senior managers.
“We will then be in a position to feed back to the community and engage on next steps.”
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