THE charity that runs libraries in Devon has welcomed a £200,000 funding award for the county’s libraries.

Announced by the government on Tuesday, April 14, the investment is part of the government’s Arts Everywhere Fund, which is administered and delivered by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

This programme is made of three funds, with Devon securing a £200,000 share of Libraries Improvement Funding (LIF) allocated to 28 library services across the country to help upgrade buildings and technology.

Devon’s successful bid will be invested in the ‘Open Plus’ system which will enable library users to access their local library outside of regular staffed hours.

The technology is currently being piloted in Cullompton, where Open Plus allows people to use the library an hour before opening times from Monday to Saturday, as well as an extra 2 hours 45 minutes on weeknights and a further 3 hours 45 minutes on Saturday afternoon after staffed hours. It also enables use on Sundays from 10am-2pm.

To access these extended opening times, library members aged over 18 need to register as an Open Plus user and be given a brief induction on how to use the system.

The funding announced will enable the expansion of the scheme, but details of how many libraries and which locations is still to be decided.

Alex Kittow, Chief Executive Officer at Libraries Unlimited, said: ‘We are constantly striving to increase usage of the libraries, to make them accessible to everyone, and Open Plus allows us to do that.

‘It offers an extra, on top of staffed hours allowing more people to access the library.

‘Sunday opening for example could allow working parents to come along with their children and borrow books.

‘Our goal is to get the county reading and the more people who have access to free books, the better.

‘We are pleased that the Government has recognised this need and is funding investment in our libraries’.