Good news - our library is a charity!

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I have been involved for some time in a project to rescue the library that serves my village and the one a mile down the road. Like 30+ other libraries in Leicestershire, the one in Newbold Verdon had been threatened with closure due to local government spending cuts. A group of us formed a committee to save the library, with the idea that we would run it with volunteers and raise the necessary funds to pay all the bills. We have now had the good news that we have been registered as a "Charitable Incorporated Organisation", which means that we are allowed to appeal for funds from the general public and run various fund-raising events. I am one of four trustees of "Our Library @ Newbold Verdon". My particular job at present is to keep the volunteers informed about how we are getting on, and to encourage them to find more volunteers - so if you live anywhere near Newbold Verdon or Barlestone, you'd be very welcome! We launch as a volunteer-run library in January, by which time we need to have had everyone fully trained to operate the library system. We are not alone in the county in terms of getting things moving - many villages will continue to have a thriving library thanks to the efforts of dedicated local people.