Burton Latimer library forced to temporarily close after council receives threats

Burton Latimer’s library has been forced to close for two weeks after threats were received by a council.

The community-run library in High Street is shut until November 21 because of ‘malicious communications’ and letters sent to Burton Latimer Town Council (BLTC), which manages it.

They say that, because of staff holidays, they cannot guarantee that staff or volunteers would not be working alone. The town’s nearby heritage museum will also be closed.

A BLTC spokesman said: “We regret to inform residents and partners that the decision has been made by BLTC to close the community-managed library until November 21.

“The decision has been made in light of malicious communications and threats received by the council. Due to staff holidays, we cannot guarantee that our staff and volunteers will not be lone working during this period.

“We take the safety of all our staff, customers and partners extremely seriously. Our Library Plus partner at North Northamptonshire Council is aware and supportive of our decision.”

The nature of the threats has not been revealed but BLTC say that police are aware of them.

A consultation evening planned for tonight (Wednesday) at the council’s Harold Mason Centre offices, looking at finances and projects for next year, has also been cancelled.

Instead BLTC has published a Powerpoint presentation online today which says they anticipate having a precept for 2024/25 of about £300,000, up from just under £180,000. This would cover running costs, all events including the library, re-opening toilets in Churchill Way and putting a building in the Pocket Park for community use.

The council spokesman said: “We will continue to risk assess all council events and will only do what is safe and in the best interests of our staff, councillors and residents.”

The spokesman added that they believed that ‘ill-feeling’ has been ‘exacerbated’ by political leaflets which have been distributed. It’s understood this relates to a previous financial audit and duck race postponements. A town council by-election is due to take place next week.

An internal audit report for the financial year 2022/23, published in June, found a host of issues with the council’s financial governance. The report found that accounting records were not properly kept, with access to the financial records for the first part of the year lost, meaning an accountant had to reconstruct accounts from bank statements. A sampling exercise found that invoices or approval couldn’t be found for some transactions, including payments to Aldi.

Since that financial year BLTC has appointed a new clerk and separate responsible financial officer. Processes have since been put in place to ensure the correct governance and financial procedures are being followed.

Previous duck races have been cancelled because of reasons including Covid, bad weather and because a lottery licence was not in place, which meant it would have been illegal to hold it. When it was postponed last year organisers promised it would be back ‘bigger and better’ in 2024.

Burton Latimer’s library has been busier than usual recently because roof problems have forced Kettering’s library to close.

Events which were due to take place at Burton Latimer’s library have been moved and fines for books that need to be returned or renewed during its closure will be written off.

Burton Latimer Heritage Society chairman Tony Dacre said they had been advised to close the nearby museum, which usually opens twice a week for three hours, and that he understood someone was ‘manning the door’ at a council meeting last night.

He said: “The library is a lifeline to some people and it helps so many in the community.

"It’s just really, really sad news. The library has done nothing but help people."

Northamptonshire Police have been contacted for comment.