TWO libraries could be built in Darlington in a scheme being considered by the borough council.

The libraries would compliment the existing ones in Crown Street and Cockerton, and the mobile library service which travels around the more deprived and isolated areas of the borough.

One of the new libraries would form part of the Firthmoor Regeneration Project, which aims to revive the run-down area.

Darlington Borough Council has already been awarded £3m over five years by the Regional Development Agency to carry out some improvements on the Firthmoor estate.

It is believed the funding for the library would come from the Firthmoor Partnership, which is bidding for National Lottery money to improve the estate's community centre.

Part of the improvements would be to create a library in the community centre, which would also be refurbished to allow wider use by the community.

The second library would be situated at the north of the town, in the Harrowgate Hill or North Road area.

Council officers have identified that the north end of Darlington does not have any library, and that people in the area would like access to the service.

A council spokesman said: "We realise the need to make library services more easily accessible and, ideally, we would like to have libraries in these areas.

"As yet, we do not have the funding to realise these ideals, but should money become available, libraries in Firthmoor and the north of Darlington would be a priority."

The libraries would be built to help to encourage adults to return to education, especially those who have previously not gained recognised qualifications.

There would also be an emphasis on encouraging people who had never used a library to make use of a service on their doorstep.

Council officers are also looking at increasing the work of the mobile library service to reach more residential areas, as well as reopening Cockerton library on Saturday afternoons to make it easier for more people to get access to books.