BY EMILY ROGERS

Libraries could 'boldly go where no one has gone before' with new technology making them staff-free.

BY EMILY ROGERS

Libraries could 'boldly go where no one has gone before' with new technology making them staff-free.

Allowing users to issue and renew books under the close watch of CCTV is among the proposals put forward to breathe new life into Ealing's flagging libraries.

The idea was discussed by councillors on Tuesday, and should it be accepted will be a British-first.

'The first step is a decision of councillors and then it depends on the budget and people's enthusiasm for the idea,' a council spokesman said.

Although the libraries would be unstaffed, they would be placed within supervised community and leisure centres.

Another proposal suggests relocating one of the borough's libraries to a school site so it can be shared between pupils and the community.

Dormers Wells High School in Southall is the school being considered for the move, although no plans have been drawn up.

The suggestions follow a damning government report released in June which showed that Ealing has fewer libraries per 1,000 population than any other London borough.

It also revealed that its projected expenditure on books in the coming year, at £1,576, was 25 per cent lower than the minimum requirement of £2,000.

The council is aiming to increase the number of issues in its libraries by three per cent to 1,611,747 and boost the number of people who visit its libraries at least once a year by five per cent to 1,186,359.

The borough's annual library plan, outlining a programme of improvements to its service over the coming year, was submitted in September.