{"id":36443,"date":"2025-07-31T08:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/36443\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T08:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:35:09","slug":"tynemouth-book-bus-axed-due-to-decline-in-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/36443\/","title":{"rendered":"Tynemouth ‘book bus’ axed due to decline in use"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mobile library service is to be axed following a decline in use.<\/p>\n

The book bus has been visiting Tynemouth twice weekly since the closure of the library in 2020, and it also serves care home and sheltered accommodation residents.<\/p>\n

North Tyneside Council has now said that it will be scrapped due to low usage and that the vehicle has reached the end of its lifespan.<\/p>\n

However, Lewis Bartoli, the Conservative councillor for Tynemouth, has called for it to be retained saying that to axe it while the library remained closed was a “cruel decision”. <\/p>\n

The Local Democracy Reporting Service<\/a> said that according to the Labour-led authority, the bus is now only used 22 times a day, with 90 care home and sheltered accommodation residents using it in the past month. <\/p>\n

It said that residents in supported living arrangements would still be able to receive home library deliveries or rotating collections of books.<\/p>\n

Councillor Hannah Johnson, cabinet member for the environment, with responsibility for sports, leisure and libraries, said: “Our community hubs and libraries are now busier than ever and we’ll make sure the small number of remaining users are fully supported. <\/p>\n

“We’re contacting people directly to help them.”<\/p>\n

Bartoli said: “Residents in Tynemouth have been without a library for almost five years. <\/p>\n

“The book bus has been a lifeline for elderly and vulnerable residents across Tynemouth since its closure. <\/p>\n

“To remove this service now, with no sign of when the physical library will reopen, is cruel. <\/p>\n

“I hope the mayor will reconsider and delay this change until the new library is finally open.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mobile library service is to be axed following a decline in use. The book bus has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[353,49,48,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-36443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}