THE new Wiltshire Council is to spend £35,000 on uniforms for its library staff.

Librarians currently do not wear uniforms but have badges to indicate they are staff.

Libraries are a service that is already run by Wiltshire County Council but bosses have decided that the merger of the five councils in Wiltshire to form the single Wiltshire Council was a good opportunity to introduce uniforms for its 200 staff.

A county council statement said: “We are introducing uniforms to library staff as part of our commitment to improve customer services. Providing library staff with a uniform will make them more clearly identifiable and this is particularly important in libraries, which are used by many children and young people.

“The cost of providing uniforms for library staff is £35,000 and we are now consulting with librarians to develop the right uniforms for them. This is equivalent to 34 pence per day for every librarian who will be wearing a uniform.

“Uniforms are already worn by people who currently provide council services.”

However, the plan has been criticised by a reader who wrote to the Wiltshire Times. Martin Valatin of Bradford on Avon feels the move is “insensitive” in view of those people struggling to pay their council tax and says it is “more appropriate to attendants at a public lavatory”.