There will presumably come a time when Heswall Library is no longer required to serve as a testing centre for people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

Wirral residents are now being asked to help shape and influence the modernisation of Wirral's library services after councillors gave the green light to begin a public consultation.

At their last meeting, the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee received an update on the progress of a new Library Strategy which, when finalised, aims to deliver an attractive, relevant, modern and flexible library service for Wirral.

The committee had previously approved the strategy development and any associated consultations at a previous meeting in November 2020. In recent months, the libraries team has been engaging with key internal stakeholders and partner organisations and received some insightful feedback and innovative suggestions.

As part of the development of the strategy, a widespread, inclusive and accessible public consultation and engagement exercise has begun with an online questionnaire on the Council's 'Have Your Say' website.You can access it here

Andy McCartan, Assistant Director – Leisure, Libraries and Customer Engagement, said: "I know how highly Wirral residents value their library service, for a range of different reasons.

"Residents' involvement in this process is absolutely vital and there is an opportunity through the development of the new strategy for libraries to shape the services provided there into community hub models that are flexible and receptive to the needs of the communities they serve."