THE power of Swindon Council to buy library books is set to dramatically increase.

The borough, which set aside £373,000 last year for library stock, will team up with other local authorities in South West England, which results in a combined budget of £2 million.

The decision comes 18 months after Swindon's main library was branded the worst of its kind in the country and a report revealed less money was spent on books here than any other unitary authority.

Swindon should now be able to take advantage of better discounts when buying bulk stock, and will not have to spend so much on the tendering process when deciding who should supply its books.

Council officer David Allen explained: "We are required to tender for library supply and this could be achieved independently by the council or in partnership with other authorities. The preparation of the library stock for each category of materials is a lengthy process.

"Several library authorities in South and South West England have agreed to work together in partnership in order to simplify the Euro-pean Community tendering process and to maximise discounts by bulk purchasing, and by working in closer partnership with suppliers to streamline the supply chain process."

As well as the borough council, the authorities included in the consortium will be Wiltshire County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council, Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council, Poole Borough Council and Torbay Bor-ough Council. It is hoped that the contract will start in April 2001. Other authorities have indicated an interest in joining when their existing library contracts end.

The £373,000 set aside by Swindon council for library stock for the current financial year includes £47,000 for audio-visual materials.

The council's cabinet agreed it was in the authority's best interests to join the consortium.

Councillor Chris Eley (Lab, Walcot) said: "This is a good idea because it is going to get us more books and DVDs and so on for our money.

"And the Government has been talking a lot about how modern local authorities should find new ways of creating local partnerships, so I think we should go for it."

The cabinet's decision to join the consortium is expected to get final approval from the ratification committee when it meets on Wednesday, December 20.