A SCHOOL principal has pleaded with the council to keep a popular library open.

Worcestershire County Council is currently consulting on plans to slash £1million from its library budget by April 2021.

Around 85 people attended a consultation session at Warndon library, in Carnforth Drive, Worcester, on Friday.

Vivienne Cranton, head of Worcester’s Black Pear Trust, which contains Hollymount School and Carnforth School, warned against closing the library.

She said: “The children use it quite a lot.

"We want to encourage our children to use the library and we feel it would be a loss to the community should it close.

“We want our children to have access to a wide variety of reading opportunities.”

Mrs Cranton said children are also involved in holiday reading schemes at the library.

Parents also take a range of courses at the Fairfield Centre, where the library is located.

City councillor Ceri Stalker said county council cabinet member Lucy Hodgson, who is responsible for libraries, attended Friday's event and said the library would not close.

She added: “We want to avoid closure, which we have been assured won’t happen.

“We also want to avoid it being totally volunteer run. People felt there was nothing that compares with trained library staff.

“We are realistic, we know some cuts will happen, it’s just how those cuts will fall.

“I’d like them not to take place at all but we all know the situation with austerity.”

Students from Hollymount School and Carnforth School took part in a poster competition to show their appreciation for the library.

The four winners of the contest displayed their artwork at the start of Friday's meeting.

Cllr Hodgson said: "The drop-in sessions at our 23 libraries were very well attended.

"We have had over 870 people come along, so I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended.

"At Warndon, we collected the posters from the children at Carnforth School and Hollymount School and they will be added into the formal consultation responses."

She added that the sessions focused on finding out how the library service could be delivered differently in the future.

Cllr Hodgson said: “We are still consulting on the overall proposals so no decision has been made about any of our libraries.

"A decision will be made once the consultation ends on February 28 and every single response has been looked at properly."