VISITORS were disappointed to find the new £12.4 million Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries closed last week.

The state-of-the-art facility opened in May but tourists who docked in Rosyth last Wednesday discovered the building was shut.

The opening hours on a Wednesday of 10am to 2pm has drawn criticism from both customers and staff, who told the Press they were not happy at having to turn away visitors to the new building.

A spokesperson for OnFife said they monitored footfall constantly and would be looking to review their opening hours should there be enough demand.

He said: “In advance of DCL&G being opened on the 18th May, a full review of visitor trends and usage to Carnegie Library over the previous six years was carried out in order to tailor our opening times to the public majority. 

“This highlighted the fact that there was demand for a Monday evening opening, whilst Wednesday afternoons were traditionally quiet.

"Additionally, we anticipated that demand for the venue at weekends would be significant (which has proven correct), requiring the facility to be open on both Saturdays and Sundays.

“This information was instrumental in assisting us with determining the opening hours for the new venue in a way that also helped us to meet the challenge of opening to the public seven days per week. 

“We have, however, been keeping track of footfall trends across the opening hours since the opening of the new integrated facility, and will review opening hours should any evidence demonstrate the need. 

“We will, of course, continue to take the requirements of cruise visitors to the area into consideration (alongside those of our local residents) when establishing whether any significant requirement to amend our hours has arisen.”

The centre has attracted an average of 5,000 visitors a week since it opened, with the opening week attracting nearly 7,500 people in total.

Peter Wilson, project manager at CruiseForth, actively encourages tourists docking at Rosyth to use the shuttle buses provided to visit Dunfermline.

While he was disappointed that many voyagers were not able to take in the facility, he stated that those wanting to visit the town were informed of availability before leaving the port.

He told the Press: “All the comments we’ve had regarding the library and galleries have been positive.

“We make sure we advise our guests on what is open to them each day. Obviously, it would be nice to have everything open all the time but that’s never going to happen.

“MV Marco Polo ironically arrived earlier than expected on Wednesday, and thus those who went to visit missed out.

“We’ve had eight ships this season put on their own buses to go to Dunfermline. In 2011, no-one was going.”