SCHOOLS in Worcestershire are losing a scheme which provides library books as part of a review into funding.

School had been able to pay a certain amount of money per year, dependant on their size, in return to access to both fiction and non-fiction titles for their libraries.

The service will close on Friday, November 2.

The main reason given by Worcestershire County Council for the decision was lack of interest shown by schools for keeping the scheme going.

Hannah Needham, assistant director of families, communities and partnerships, said: “We listened to all the feedback from schools and invited interested ones to renew their Schools’ Library Service subscriptions based on a revised offer and pricing structure.

“Unfortunately, not enough schools wanted to renew which meant the service could not continue.”

A new system has been proposed by the council.

Ms Needham added: “Schools will be offered the opportunity to buy books from their libraries and we will also write to schools before November 2 with contact details of alternative library service provision for them to consider.”

The school library service was introduced to help schools organise and manage their school library resources and boost reading and literacy.

Particular attention was given to promoting reading for fun.

Schools would paid into the scheme would receive visits from mobile libraries to ensure their collections were up to date.

The average primary school would spend £2,833 and receive £15,014 worth of books in return.

In recent years, the number of schools taking part declined dramatically, with more than 70 per cent of the schools taking part in 2000 dropping out by 2018.

Earlier this year, headteachers expressed their disappointment at the council's plans to scrap the scheme.

Councillors at the time said nothing was set in stone regarding abandoning the school libraries scheme, but the decision has now been taken to end the scheme for good.