The decision on who will run Croydon’s libraries is set to be made next week.

Wandsworth and Croydon councils joined forces to put their library services out to tender, a move set to save the council hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

At a meeting due to be held tonight Wandsworth councillors have been recommended to select Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) to take control of all 11 of it libraries and the Wandsworth heritage service, which runs out of Battersea library.

GLL, John Laing Integrated Services Ltd and an in-house Wandsworth Council bid were short-listed, with GLL deemed by Wandsworth to offer the best value.

Croydon Council will decide which of the three bids will win their contract to run the 13 libraries in Croydon at the corporate services committee on Wednesday November 21.

A council spokesman said Wandsworth’s choice has no bearing on Croydon’s final decision.

He said: "The council is carrying out a final evaluation of the three tenders that were received in October 2012 with the aim of ensuring that Croydon residents get the best possible deal.

"This has been a detailed piece of work carried out in close partnership with Wandsworth, although the two contracts are entirely separate and Wandsworth's choice of partner will have no influence on Croydon's decision.

"Once a recommendation has been made by the evaluation team this will be reported to members for approval."

In Wandsworth, GLL will run the service from April 2013 for a period of eight years, if councillors give it the green-light.