Library facilities in line for £3m

Over the next two years the county council is planning to spend more than £3m on the service.

It is hoped that the transformation, along with the addition of longer opening hours and a more family-friendly atmosphere, will lead to more people using the service.

With the help of an extra £1.1m in National Lottery funding, a total of 350 computers will be installed at libraries across the county, all offering free access to the Internet.

The county council investment will also see the creation of informal areas for browsing and listening to music and new areas for the under-16s where the youngsters will be able to access information in a "safe and appealing environment".

The authority's executive member with responsibilities for libraries, Councillor John Dennis, admitted the council's plans for the service were ambitious.

"There will be a complete redesign, with state-of-the-art information and communications technology and a new children's library," he said.

"The county council is transforming the library and information centres and giving the people of North Yorkshire the facilities they deserve."

The authority's director of business and community services, Gordon Gresty, said: "We are very keen to develop close working partnerships with businesses and local organisations that can bring additional services to our communities.

"We can provide excellent facilities for companies to promote their products and services through libraries to the 570,000 people of North Yorkshire.

"In return we want help with our plans to develop the library and information service across the county."

To that end, the authority has now put together a number of sponsorship packages. "They will be of real benefit to companies of various sizes and with Internet access they can be local, national or international," said Mr Gresty.

The project will be officially launched at the concert hall suite at Scarborough Library on Thursday.