Pembroke and Pembroke Dock libraries are to see their opening hours cut in a bid to reduce service costs that has also prompted a short-term rescue for Milford Haven Library.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet members were asked at the March meeting to make changes to library service provision in parts of the county, as part of a cost-cutting scheme that follows the Library Needs Assessment and a recent public consultation.

The proposals to reduce opening hours at Pembroke library (saving £6,800) and Pembroke Dock library (saving £12,000), and make changes to the library provision in Milford Haven (saving £13,000) are part of wider changes to generate a total saving of £250,000 per annum. This is based on a 20 per cent savings target for the service as part of the agreed 2025-’26 budget.

The formal consultation ran between January and February, with the reductions in hours proposed at Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, and, in the case of Milford, the proposal was either to relocate the library to a smaller/cheaper premises or establish a Community Managed Partnership at the current library.

The Port of Milford Haven and Milford Haven Town Council came forward with a combined financial support package of £13,000 for the 2025/26 year, allowing the situation at Milford Haven to remain unchanged in the short term, while longer term financially sustainable options for the library are sought.

Presenting the report to Cabinet, Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett, who moved the recommendations, said Milford differed from the other two libraries owing to the additional short-term funding received.

“Milford haven town Council and the Port of Milford Haven stepped forward to fill that gap, in effect it buys us some time to look at the options going forward; in Milford what we’ve done in effect is to buy a year’s grace.”

The changes will effect savings of nearly £32,000, but this is just a small part of the hoped-for overall savings for the service, members heard.

Cabinet members supported the proposals unanimously, with leader Cllr Jon Harvey, who seconded approval, stressing that libraries are not just for lending books, but for providing warm spaces and community facilities.

As a result of the changes, Pembroke library will lose eight hours per week, adopting the timetable which had the highest community support, by closing on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1pm.

Pembroke Dock library loses seven hours, closing at 1pm on Thursdays and at 4pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In a supplementary report to Pembroke Dock Town Council at the February meeting, the Town Clerk had told councillors that a resident entered the council office having learned that the Town Council was not supporting the library with funding. She was “quite irate and rude” to staff and had to be asked to leave.

Members had discussed the incident and how “PCC need to take responsibility for reducing funding for the library services as it is a service provided by County Council, not the Town Council.”