Not so much fund raising as financial backing - any ideas please?

Backagain I would have thought the first thing to do would be to produce a business plan, ie work out how much money is actually needed in terms of capital expenditure to get things going, and then how much is needed per year in recurrent expenditure to keep it going.
Sorry if you have already done that, but I think it's no good asking anyone for money until you know how much you need.
Is there room for negotiation with the council? Will they provide heating, lighting and maintenance if the library is staffed by volunteers? Will they match any commitments by local business? There's the potential for some seriously bad publicity if they say no.
Are there any large businesses near you that like to maintain a profile?

Yes, Jane, they are in the process of pulling things together into a succinct business plan - the information and figures are all available but not at present in a very presentable/digestible form. That is a task in hand.
The Council is prepared to help but on condition that most of the funding is in place from other sources - that is the whole point of their plan to close these smaller libraries. It's knowing who to approach for funding. They will try local businesses. and firms like M&S, pushing the PR angle, but I was wondering if there are other big organisations (like the Lottery) who may be worth trying.

Backagain a bit of random googling seems to show that funding is more likely to be available if you can show what the library can do for the community and in particular the younger/disadvantaged members of it.
The Arts Council might be a start?
www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-libraries/community-libraries-research/

Terrific Jane, many thanks for that - much food for thought there and lots of ideas. Just what is needed.
We'll have to get googling and find out what else there may be out there.
If anyone has dealt with this sort of thing, maybe in their working lives, and has any suggestions they'd be very welcome

Try this link: www.fundingcentral.org.uk/default.aspx

or your local branch of Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) should be able to give you access to the Directory of Grant Making Trusts (and lots of other help too). You can search the Directory by geographic area and by type of service giving you access to both local trusts and larger UK wide sources.

HTH

That's really useful Granny23, have something to get our teeth into now. GN never lets you down

I was just going to say funding central ! Ask your local CVS if they have grantfinder?

Try some of the supermarkets trusts as well like co-op and tesco

As well as all the advice you have just been given take a look at some of the bigger firms in the area. Many have a corporate responsibility policy and very often fund community schemes and charities.

Are there any construction / facilities management / investment management firms near you or do any of the group work for one? Funding and building at the same time