FEWER books are being borrowed from libraries in Pendle, according to figures just released.

District librarian John Hodgkinson said users were telling staff the two things they most wanted to see improved were opening hours and the range of books on offer.

But in the year to the end of March 1997, the library budget in Lancashire was cut by £344,000 and although opening hours were spared, the cuts did lead to a three per cent drop in the number of books and other materials loaned.

"This was a smaller reduction than in previous years but it is still a worrying trend," said Mr Hodgkinson, who is in charge of libraries in the Burnley division which covers Pendle.

But in his annual report on libraries in Pendle, Mr Hodgkinson had reason to highlight some success.

A heritage centre was opened at Colne Library, compact discs were introduced in Barnoldswick and proved popular with more than 2,000 lent out, and class visits from youngsters at Trawden Primary School led to an 18 per cent increase in the number of issues from the village library. A survey of people using libraries in Trawden, Colne, Brierfield and Barrowford found between 96 per cent and 99 per cent thought staff knowledge and expertise was either good or very good.

Almost four out of every ten people in the borough are library members. The total number of books in its libraries fell to 149,800 compared to 153,427 the previous year.

New books added to the shelves were also down, from 12,371 to 11,077. But the number of music tapes and videos available were up.

Only Trawden and Wheatley Lane libraries showed an increase in lending books.

Lending at Nelson and Colne fell by around 12,000 on both sites and overall issues were down from 889,798 to 849,696.

But the lending of other materials such as videos and tapes was up from 52,446 to 63,227.

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