Government should provide funding of £250,000 to prevent ’lifeline’ library services from closing.

That’s the recommendation of a select committee report to be laid before Tynwald next week.

It was tasked with investigating the adequacy, structure and funding of library services in the island.

The committee concluded that the withdrawal of government funding has caused a significant issue for the all-Island Family, Mobile, Home Library and schools services, although it acknowledged a £100,000 one-off emergency payment was made last year.

It warned the services are once again under threat this year as the team behind them will not be able to raise sufficient money to release all of the matched funding generously offered by the Scheinberg Family Office, whose financial help has prevented the closure of the libraries since 2012.

The committee report notes: ’In our opinion the Mobile and Home Library services are lifelines for those who use them and must be maintained. The Schools Service is well used and it is a cost effective way of supplementing school resources. If the Family Library were to close it would be a big loss for many people.’

The committee accepted the Family Library could be seen as duplicating the role of public libraries but said the latter do not have the space to offer the same range or number of additional services.

It recommended that government should provide £125,000 to Family Library Limited to enable it to continue the ’absolutely fundamental’ Mobile, Home Library and Schools services for another two years - and that a further £125,000 provided to secure the Family Library for the same period.

The committee, chaired by Douglas East MHK Clare Bettison, also looked at public library service provision around the island whose benefits it said ’cannot be underestimated’.

It presumably meant to say ’cannot be overestimated’ or ’should not be underestimated’.

But it raised concerns about current ’piecemeal’ funding arrangements. There is no statutory requirement to provide services and island-wide provision varies.

It found, for example, he cost of running the Henry Bloom Noble Library accounts for more than half of the total cost of running all of the general public library services.

’We cannot see how this can be representing value for money for Douglas ratepayers,’ the committee said.

It suggested the future for library services lies in increased co-operation.

The report recommended a libraries working party be set up to investigate public library provision and its future funding, and to report to Tynwald by December 2019.