Event held to celebrate Raunds Library - a community managed library

02 December 2025

On Saturday 29 November, Raunds Community Library Trust held an event to celebrate the group taking over the lease of Raunds Library.

Under the Community Managed Libraries programme, a number of libraries were offered out to be community managed in 2019. North Northamptonshire Council provides book stock, computers and a self-service to enable the libraries to continue to operate as part of the countywide libraries network. All building costs and any staffing/volunteers to deliver library services are the responsibility of the group running the library.

During 2020, a group of volunteers at Raunds Library were able to open and run the library under a Tenancy at Will from the Council. This group has since formed the Raunds Community Library Trust (RCLT), who have recently taken over the lease for the library.

The library is a well-used and valuable asset to the town and surrounding villages. We are looking forward for to increasing what we can offer to the community and working with local organisations and businesses to achieve this aim.Peter Wathen, Chair of the Library Trusts

The lease was previously taken on by the Creating Tomorrow Academy Trust, with students able to gain work experience through the day-to-day running of the library, alongside other volunteers. The direction of travel for the Academy has now evolved in a different direction and the Library Trust have now taken on the lease.

Raunds Community Library Trust will be taking the library forwards with a group of enthusiastic volunteers, to enable local residents to continue to benefit from library services and a whole range of interesting informative and entertaining activities.

Libraries are at the heart of towns and villages across North Northamptonshire - providing hubs the whole community can benefit from. It is great that the successful work by the Raunds Community Library Trust is continuing, and we wish the dedicated team of volunteers all the best for the future as part of our Community Managed Libraries programme.Cllr Greg Wilcox, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive member for Communities

Anyone interested in volunteering is welcome and can visit the library for more details.