PAINSWICK Parish Council and the Community Library in Painswick group (CLIP) are set to get the green light in their bid to run the town’s library from the Town Hall.

The original library building was closed in December 2009 on health and safety grounds, the town residents have been sourcing their books from a mobile library.

However, following Gloucestershire County Council’s decision to cut funding to libraries around the county, including mobile libraries, an offer was made for communities to run some of the libraries instead.

"Our aim is to develop a community library for the 21st century as the core of a wide range of services to be developed to meet the needs of Painswick and the surrounding areas," said CLIP member Peter Corley.

"We have formed a group of trustees, which includes professional librarians and people with a wide range of relevant experience in business, marketing, charity administration, law and the public sector.

"We have received an enormous amount of support from the community."

The proposal is expected to be given the go ahead by the GCC Cabinet next week, along with 17 other bids submitted, including youth services run by by the Quedgeley Community Trust and the Friends of Tetbury Youth Club and Minchinhampton library run by the parish council steering group.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Leader of the Council, said: "These 17 business plans demonstrate how serious communities are about taking on these buildings.

"Each of these projects is different and has been designed to fit the local community it serves and I am confident they can be a big success.

"Gloucestershire County Council has worked closely with the organisations to get the plans off the ground and we will continue to support them once the decision has been confirmed."