McMillan Welcomes Investment in Libraries

West of Scotland MSP Stuart McMillan has welcome the announcement that ten projects aimed at improving the quality and diversity of Scotland's public library services have been awarded £450,000 from the SNP Scottish government.

Announcing the successful projects, SNP Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said "Our public libraries play an important role, not only educationally but culturally and socially, for the communities they serve. I am glad to see projects offering library support to groups such as young people and migrant workers - this is where great results will be achieved".

"This funding will help libraries across Scotland continue to improve the quality and diversity of the services they offer. It will allow more people to access information and learning opportunities – helping to nurture skills and realise ambitions."

Stuart McMillan MSP said that “This is welcome news for library services in East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde who will both benefit from the announced funding. I understand that East Renfrewshire will benefit from £46,004 of funding which will be directed towards establishing libraries as a key artners in health information and support services".

"In Inverclyde £33,650 will be used to enable those with additional learning needs to access computers with the support of the local learning partnership through a range of courses of learning activities and support”.

Elaine Fulton, Director of the Scottish Library and Information Council comment that "Public Libraries continue to provide a range of services to almost 60 per cent of the population. We are delighted with this continued support for public libraries through this successful programme. This builds on work we have been doing with local authorities to evaluate and improve their services. These projects will demonstrate how libraries can contribute to meeting local and national objectives."