A SECOND meeting is to be held to gauge support from local residents for taking over the running of their library.

The charity East Durham Trust is holding a consultation event next month for the people of Blackhall to consider the possibility of community ownership of the council-run library.

An initial meeting was held in March and, while the charity insists there is no immediate threat to the library service in Blackhall, they are working with Durham County Council to look at the potential of the service and building moving into community hands in the future.

An hour-long consultation meeting will be held at Blackhall Community Centre in Hesleden Road in the village on Tuesday, September 8, starting at 4pm.

Organisers say the meeting will provide feedback on progress to date, including what came from the initial survey and consultation, consider some of the practical and legal implications and to establish some next steps.

Malcolm Fallow, chief executive of the East Durham Trust, said: “In today’s current economic climate it makes a lot of sense to have alternative arrangements for delivering local services.

“We know that the people of Blackhall value their library, we expect this to be confirmed further at the event.”