New chapter for Fife village library

Elizabeth Whitton cuts the ribbon with local children. Pics by FPA

Adult visitors were greeted with cake and prosecco, while youngsters had a non-alcoholic alternative.

And, following the ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Kinghorn Library Renewed committee and volunteers who will run the new service, the children had the chance to take part in badge making and to have their photograph taken with the prizewinning scarecrows from Kinghorn’s recent Scarecrow Trail, part of the Royal Burgh’s annual show.

A large number of visitors came to visit throughout the afternoon, right up until closing at 3pm, and all expressed their delight that library facilities are to remain in Kinghorn after Fife Council’s decision to withdraw it from February.

Even though the opening was not a fundraising event, the committee received over £400 in donations from wellwishers abd supporters on the day.

Elizabeth Whitton, chairman of the Kinghorn Library Renewed committee, said: “We would sincerely like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in our long campaign to get to where we are today and to our great volunteers who we couldn’t have done this without.

“Our next task is to get the word out on the streets that Kinghorn Library is open again and ready for business.

“We have a fantastic selection of over ... books to borrow and we hope as many people as possible will join to ensure we can continue to provide a service well into the future.

“At the moment we are open Tuesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. By the beginning of October, we hope to be open five days a week.

“This is a great new hub for village life and we encourage everyone to come in to browse and borrow.”

A campaign to save the library from closure was mounted in July 2015 which quickly gained support from locals.

Fife Cultural Trust, which ran the facility on behalf of the council closed the facility as part of an £800,000 money saving package.

Kinghorn Libary Renewed was set up in January 2016 preparing a business plan detailing how it planned to deliver an alternative library service.

This was accepted in August 2016, but hold-ups with lease agreements and other technicalities meant that it was more than a year until the service was able to open to the public.