North Somerset library hours change 7 Sept, Worle closes

Worle Library and Children’s Centre will close for good after Saturday 5 September. Every other council-run library in North Somerset changes its opening hours two days later, on Monday 7 September. (North Somerset Council, Worle Library)

The changes are the last visible step in a review that North Somerset Council’s Full Council approved on 24 February. They are worth checking before you next set out, because at most libraries the doors stay open the same hours and it is the staffed hours behind them that shrink.

What changes at each library

Each library’s own page on the council website carries the full current timetable. (North Somerset Council, library locations)

Congresbury is the outlier because it is run by volunteers and Congresbury Parish Council rather than by the council directly, so it sits outside the changes. (North Somerset Council, Congresbury Library)

Worle: what replaces it

The council says Worle Library is closing because of the cost of maintaining and repairing the building. It has committed to putting some form of library provision back into Worle, through outreach services or a community-run model, but has not yet said what that will be.

What has been arranged for the changeover:

• From Tuesday 1 September, the WESTlink on-demand bus will run from the stop outside Worle Health Centre directly to The Campus, Monday to Friday between 9am and 2pm
• The three nearest alternatives are The Campus, Weston-super-Mare Library at the Town Hall and the For All Healthy Living Centre library
• Regular buses run from Worle High Street to the bus interchange in Weston, a short walk from Weston Library
• A book collection and return point is being arranged near Worle High Street. The council says registered Worle customers will be contacted once the details are settled
• Anyone who cannot get out at all can apply for the home library service

Separate engagement is planned with staff and users of Worle Children’s Centre about what happens to children’s services on the site.

The Campus reopens on 5 September

The library at The Campus in Weston has been shut since Monday 24 August for 12 days of enhancement works, and is due to reopen on Saturday 5 September. (North Somerset Council, 18 August)

The work covers a partition wall, new doors, extended access technology and extra CCTV, paid for from section 106 developer contributions. While it is shut, children’s books for the Summer Reading Challenge and a small selection of adult fiction and large print are available in the foyer, reservations can still be collected, and items can still be returned. The rest of The Campus is open as usual, apart from bank holiday Monday on 31 August.

Why the hours are being cut

North Somerset Council ran a 12-week consultation on its library service from 31 July to 24 October 2025, offering three options. It received 4,945 responses. Full Council approved Option B on 24 February 2026. (North Somerset Council, 25 February)

The agreed package delivers £433,000 of savings required by the council’s medium-term financial plan for 2026-28, partly from staffed hours and partly from staffing and management budgets, book and e-resource spend, systems costs and new income. The council says it still meets its statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service.

The reductions it published in February were: the For All Healthy Living Centre library down 11.5 hours a week, the North Somerset Studies Library down two and a half days a week, Weston-super-Mare Library down 8.5 staffed hours a week, and smaller cuts at Nailsea, Clevedon, Yatton, Portishead and Pill.

Winscombe Library is still unresolved. The council is working with Winscombe ward councillors and Winscombe and Sandford Parish Council on either parish funding or a volunteer-run model. If nothing viable is agreed by the deadline, the library closes at the end of March 2027. Pill Library, which had also been in scope, was kept in the statutory network.

Extended access, and how to get on it

Extended access lets registered members use a library when no staff are there, by scanning a library card and entering a PIN at the door. It currently runs at Clevedon, Nailsea, Portishead, Winscombe, Worle and Yatton, and The Campus is having the technology fitted now. (North Somerset Council, extended access)

Inside those hours you can borrow, return and renew at the kiosks, collect reservations, use a computer, print, photocopy and use the wi-fi. There are no toilets available during unstaffed hours, and no staff on site if you need help.

To use it you must be 16 or over, or 15 with parental permission, hold a current membership with North Somerset or another LibrariesWest authority, and attend a free briefing of 20 to 30 minutes. Briefings are booked through Eventbrite or directly with the library.

One detail worth knowing before next Monday: all North Somerset libraries close on bank holidays, but people registered for extended access can still get in.

What it means for you

If you use Worle Library, borrow what you need before Saturday 5 September and note that your nearest staffed alternative from 7 September is The Campus, Weston Town Hall or the For All Healthy Living Centre. If you rely on being able to speak to a member of staff, check the new staffed hours rather than the opening hours, because at Weston, Clevedon, Nailsea, Portishead, Winscombe and Yatton the two are no longer the same thing.

If you use a library in the mornings before 10am on a Tuesday at Clevedon, Nailsea, Winscombe or Yatton, or on a Thursday at Portishead, the building will be open but unstaffed, so it is worth booking an extended access briefing now. Tuesday users of the For All Healthy Living Centre library need a different day from 7 September.

Reservations, renewals and the digital library are unaffected and can be handled through LibrariesWest at any time.

More North Somerset coverage: planning applications and decisions, roadworks and travel and things to do in North Somerset.