WELLINGTON library in Fore Street may open on Thursdays in future if suggested changes to opening hours Somerset County Council has proposed are approved.

Currently the library is open from 9.30am to 6pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, plus 9.30am to 1pm on Saturdays, a total of 37.5 hours.

The county, which in a consultation document is asking residents and councils for their views, is proposing that the new opening hours should be 9.30am to 5pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, plus 9.30am to 1pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. This is an overall  reduction of half an hour’s opening.

In its report the county says the population of the Wellington library catchment area is 26,664 and that the average number of monthly active users between May and October 2014 was 3,090. The town’s population includes a higher proportion of affluent households and a lower number of people on low to moderate incomes. Transactions fall considerably after 5pm – 3-4% compared with 8-9% in the previous hour.

“Re-directing hours from quiet times would enable this very busy library to open a further half-day (Thursdays), thereby opening across six days,” adds the report, which was considered at the December meeting of Wellington Town Council.

Councillors welcomed the proposed changes but decided to ask if it would be possible to have one weekday when the library would be open until 6pm to help borrowers who worked and who might not be able to get in before 5pm.

The county is proposing to reduce the opening hours for Wells library, which has a population  catchment area of 62,735,  from 48 to 42 a week.