After a public consultation exercise held between November 2014 and February 2015 North Yorkshire Count Council issued their final proposals in July 2015 for the future of the Library service in the County.
Under these proposals, in this area, Selby library will remain a Council run library also providing professional librarian support to local community managed libraries, including Sherburn in Elmet.
The Library Steering Group consisting of concerned individuals was formed in order to create a community group to take on this responsibility. In addition the concept of a Community Hub to provide local people with access to all Parish, District and Council services as well as those provided by voluntary groups is being developed.
The Community Trust has negotiated a 5 year lease for that part of the building needed to operate the Library. A fantastic response to the appeal for volunteers has produced over 70 local people who are willing to give their time to ensure that the library continues to serve our community. The challenge of organising this large number of volunteers has been achieved enabling us to provide a seamless service since April 2017.
Support has been received from all of the local Parish Councils which, together with the revenue that we can generate ourselves, ensures that we are financially viable.
In September 2017 the Steering Group became the Sherburn & Villages Community Library Management Group and continues its work under the governance of Sherburn in Elmet Community Trust. Three of its members; Paul Doherty, Karen Packham and Kevin Sibson are Trustees of the Community Trust. The Trust is dedicated to continuing the development of this community asset and meeting the challenge of providing a service that will be valued by the people of Sherburn and the local villages.