LIBRARIES in Torfaen could see funding cuts of £200,000 as the authority looks to preserve the future of its services.

The council is planning to cut two vacant posts, along with three other jobs, bringing the total number of employees down from 33 to 28.

Members of the public would also be expected to make greater use of self-service machines as part of a new delivery model.

As many as 15 redundancies were considered by the council as part of the 2017/18 budget saving proposals approved in March 2016.

Funding cuts of £250,000 were also touted, but a final decision was put back by 12 months to allow for a new strategy to be developed.

A report said: “The decision to defer the Library and Information Services remodelling was to develop a strategy that met the demands of Torfaen residents as in light of austerity, it is important that the service has a clear direction and purpose from which to operate.”

During this time a consultation on the library service review received more than 1,000 responses.

All three of the county’s libraries will remain open, but self-service will be the primary focus on certain days due to reduced staff numbers.

Blaenavon Library is currently the only library to offer self-service, but the council are planning to introduce it in Cwmbran and Pontypool.

A report said that the £50,000 self-service cost would be covered from first-year savings or reserves, but it is expected that full savings will be achieved in subsequent years.

Another cost-saving exercise being considered is the removal of the DVD and e-magazine offer, which could raise £4,100.

“Through the consultation these were found to be low level services and could be removed with little impact on customers,” a report added.

The council’s cleaner overview and scrutiny committee will discuss the new on March 29 before giving recommendations to a cabinet member.