Surrey County Council could be set to drop plans to consider inviting volunteers to take control of Hersham Library.

The authority is creating a Strategic Library Network, consisting of council-managed branches and others run by volunteers in “community partnerships”.

Its Conservative cabinet agreed to proceed with a pilot community partnership scheme for 10 libraries at a meeting in September.

These are the branches in Bagshot, Bramley, Byfleet, Ewell Court, Lingfield, New Haw, Stoneleigh, Tattenhams, Virginia Water and Warlingham.

At the time, they also agreed to consider nine other libraries – including Hersham’s – for inclusion within the community partnership scheme once the pilot has been in existence for a full year from April 1, 2012 and an evaluation of its success has taken place.

At a cabinet meeting held yesterday (Tuesday), however, county council leader David Hodge announced that he was proposing to drop “phase two” of the scheme.

If the move is ratified next month, Hersham Library will officially be included within the authority’s core network of council-managed branches.

“I believe this will help those people out in the community who may have some concerns,” he said at yesterday’s meeting.

“I believe this will give us a much better plan going forward.”

Cllr Hodge also outlined plans regarding the support the county council would offer to groups taking control of the 10 libraries in the pilot scheme.

He said that an experienced member of the authority’s library team would be present in all community-run libraries for at least 20% of their current opening hours.

“This is a substantial change from the policy previously,” he said. “My feeling is that this will go down very well with the community partners who are working with us.

“I believe it will give those communities with a volunteer programme the extra support that they have been asking for.”

Surrey County Council’s liberal democrat group welcomed Cllr Hodge’s announcements but said that they did not go far enough.

John Orrick, the party’s communities spokesperson, called for the whole community partnership plan to be scrapped.

"Liberal Democrats have consistently argued for many years that all of Surrey's libraries should remain open,” he said.

“We have argued against two tiers of library, with no second class libraries, and we want professionals at the heart of Surrey's library network.”