COUNCILLORS closed the book on the School Library Service (SLS) as they agreed to cease the service at the end of this school year.

Dorset County Council’s Cabinet voted to cease providing the service for schools after the summer term 2016.

Councillors called the service ‘unsustainable’.

The service provides resources, advice and training to schools to enhance the provision of a library centre in the school to support the reading and learning development of children and young people.

The School Library Service (SLS) is part of the county council's library service and has operated as fully traded service since 1995.

There is no requirement for DCC to provide the service.

The service is currently used by 73 schools across Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole, with 47 of these in the within the Dorset County Council area.

A consultation was carried out last month.

Just 26 percent of schools use the service, down from 60 percent in 2011 and a report said the decline is due to the ‘financial climate’.

Councillors also agreed several methods for disposal of books, including distributing some stock across Dorset County Council library service for use by young people and schools currently subscribed to the service retaining long-term book loans.

Cllr Colin Jamieson said that the service is ‘no longer sustainable’ and that the council has now ‘fallen below critical mass’ when it comes to the service.

The report put before the council said that there are seven members of staff based at the school library service who would be ‘directly impacted’ by changes to the service.

Cllr Toni Coombs said: “As much as it is a nice to have service, as much as schools value it, they don’t value it enough to put their hand in their pocket.”

The consultation of schools, to which 35 responded, asked schools to what level of funding they would be willing to commit.

Of the 21 schools that responded to this question, seven stated that they would only be willing to pay up commit £500 with a further six saying they would commit to £500 to £1000.

The report stated that the figures schools said they would commit indicate the overall budget position for 2016/17 would be an £80,000 deficit.

Of the respondents to the consultation, 23 schools committed to using services in the future while 12 said they would not use it in the future.