Oswestry Library has temporarily reduced its daily opening hours starting today, Monday, 20 October, in response to ongoing anti-social behaviour issues.

The temporary change, which will run until Saturday, 1 November, means the library will close early at 3pm each day. This is a move intended to safeguard the premises, staff, and customers during the local half-term school break.

The only exception to this revised schedule will be Thursday, 30 October, when the library will operate its normal hours to accommodate the scheduled Community & Family Hub Open Day. Normal operating hours for the library are set to resume from Monday, 3 November.

The decision follows what Shropshire Council described as “several difficult incidents” that occurred in and around the library during the summer holidays.

James Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for housing and leisure, acknowledged the reason for the inconvenience.

“Unfortunately, the behaviour of a minority of individuals resulted in several difficult incidents in and around the library throughout the school summer holidays, and this alteration is one of the necessary measures being implemented to safeguard the library space over the upcoming half-term break,” Mr Owen said.

He stressed that the council is actively working with local partners to manage the underlying issues but that the safety of everyone using the space remains paramount.

“We’re working closely with relevant local partners to manage these issues, but in the meantime the safety of staff and customers must be the highest priority. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this temporary alteration to library opening times,” he added.