A creation of a charity looks the most likely option for the community takeover of Addingham’s village library.

Proposals for the organisation, tentatively named The Addingham Community Library, were discussed by Addingham Parish Council last Wednesday (July 20), following a meeting between village volunteers and Bradford Council representatives.

Those behind the plans to take the service on from Bradford Council have already come up with a logo for the scheme - combining books with the village’s favourite symbol of a duck.

Charity status would also mean reduced rates for the premises.

Parish councillor, John Mawson, said training and CRB checks for volunteers could be done in Addingham itself, meaning volunteers would not have to travel elsewhere.

And he says volunteers manning the library would not need to handle any cash, as library service fines would be dealt with by a Bradford Council library or office.

Addingham Library was one of five small libraries scheduled for closure by Bradford Council earlier this year, in a costcutting exercise.

The library’s operating costs came to £8,000 in the year 2010 to 2011, the parish council heard last week. Of this, £2,000 was rent to the parish council, and £2,900 was rates.

Bradford Council is keeping Addingham’s library, based in a parish council-owned building on Main Street, open until at least the end of August, giving residents more time to make arrangements for the transfer of services.

Two other libraries in the Bradford District are in the early stages of bids for transfer to the community.

Coun Mawson said: “They will close it when we ask them to. They will carry on running it until we say we’re ready to take it over.”

Work is now carrying on to establish a charity to run the library. Coun Mawson said 17 volunteers willing to help run the library attended the last meeting, but there are as many as 27 people involved in the scheme.