As of April 1st 2016 the Central Library will be charging all groups who use the seminar room. This means that all my groups will need to cover the cost being imposed. At the current rate of £10 per hour, and based on the current pattern of meeting once a month (12 meetings per year) for 2 hours, the cost for each group is £240 per year. Booking for a whole year is the best way of ensuring that we can go on meeting regularly in spite of the increasing demand for the room to be given over to commercial bookings.
The cost, when spread among the average numbers of participants, is likely to be between £3 and £4 per meeting – i.e.£36 – £48 per year, which is still considerably less than the cost of many other similar courses.
I remain grateful to the Central Library for use of the seminar room without charge over the past 12 years, enabling me to run my reading groups and courses when other outlets for adult education for pleasure and personal development were growing fewer.
Dr Lynn Forest-Hill 