Library and Customer Services – What This Means for Ashington
Library services moving to a new chapter | Northumberland County Council
NCC will be releasing further information about the forthcoming move to keep residents updated ahead of January.
We want to take this opportunity to commend two brilliant local teams. Our fabulous library service, and the amazing NCC customer services staff who currently work from the ground floor of the Town Hall on Station Road. Ashington has always been fortunate to have a face-to-face NCC customer services presence in the town, delivering great advice and support to residents.
From January, customer services and library provision will be brought together, with NCC customer services moving from the Town Hall to the library within Ashington Leisure Centre — a 6 minute walk from the bus station. Residents who are used to visiting the Town Hall will need to get used to visiting the library instead.
About the change
NCC's Cabinet has approved a redesigned library and customer information model following one of the county's largest public consultations, with around 6,000 residents and staff contributing their views. The plans were adapted in response to that feedback.
Under the new model, customer contact and library services will be blended together across the county, giving people 21 locations to access face-to-face support — a change that extends this kind of provision into towns and villages that don't currently have it. Ashington has been designated a "Hub" library, one of the five biggest and busiest sites in the county (alongside Berwick, Blyth, Hexham and Morpeth), staffed for 46 hours a week, the highest tier in the new structure.
The council has confirmed no compulsory redundancies as part of the change, and services such as the Home Library Service and mobile library will continue, with the mobile offer extended and linked more closely to community and digital support through Thriving Together.
The new model takes effect from January 2027.
