Celebrities and leading authors lead protests over 'shameful' threat to cherished services
Protests against the planned closure of more than 450 library services were staged today. Library users, authors, parents and children took part in "read-ins" and demonstrations at libraries in south Yorkshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Oxfordshire, where 20 of the 43 libraries still running are earmarked for withdrawal of funds.
TV presenter Kirsty Young, musician Billy Bragg and literary stars such as Philip Pullman, Colin Dexter, Mark Haddon, Kate Mosse and Julia Donaldson were involved in Save Our Libraries events.
At Sheffield central library a mass "shhh-in" was organised by Library Workers for a Brighter Future. On the stroke of 11am, protesters joined in a chorus of "shhh" then cheered for their library, before taking out the maximum 15 books each on their tickets – the theory being that you cannot close down a library while most books are on loan. In Dorset, Bragg attended an event where library users also attempted to empty its shelves. A rally was staged outside Bolton's central library, and in Cambridge a "flashmob book reading" surprised the public outside the city's main library.
For Pullman and Dexter the planned closures around Oxford have a particular irony. In September they were at the forefront of the city's bid to become Unesco's World Book Capital in 2014. "At the time we had the meetings I said we would have a wonderful chance," said Dexter. "But if the committee come along to Somertown in North Oxford we would have to take them and show them a library building with boarded-up windows. It is a sad commentary and what makes a lot of us very cross is that the argument deployed in defence is simply to ask us what we would cut. We are here to say that this is a terrible, shameful business."
Oxfordshire County Council believes the library cuts could save £2m over four years and is offering an option for local groups to bid for grants and then run libraries voluntarily.
Dexter scorns the "culture of amateurism" that he feels will undermine one of the area's "most precious facilities", adding: "Reading gives me more pleasure than pretty much anything else in life. I got a library ticket when I was 13 or 14 and it was like a rite of passage. Instead of picking on libraries the council should be extremely proud of the institution. It ought to be near the top, not the bottom, of the priority list."
Pullman, who spoke publicly against the cuts last month, attended a reading at the threatened Botley Library, close to his home in the Oxfordshire village of Cumnor. The small building is not the kind of library usually associated with the university town. There are no dreaming spires here. Inside at 2.30pm yesterday , six users, of ages ranging from 11 to 68, were busy taking out books or using the computer terminals. A 56-year-old academic from Cumnor said she was "outraged… It is a mixed community here, as it should be. Much more real town than gown. This library is for people who don't have books at home. It is a matter of social justice."
Haddon, who visited Blackbird Leys library in Oxfordshire with fellow author Jane Bingham, used to live in East Oxford. "Libraries are the NHS for the mind; one of the very few places where we are all equal... where we can all read and learn and get involved in our community," he said. Writer John Dougherty joined Gloucester's band of "flying authors", visiting a series of libraries for Save Our Libraries day.
The national outcry at the prospect of library cuts has been equalled by reaction to the planned sale of many of Britain's state-owned forests and woodlands. Both subjects have become central to opposition attacks on coalition cuts in parliament this month.
The shadow culture minister, Gloria De Piero, has lodged a series of parliamentary questions querying culture minister Ed Vaizey's suggestion that most families now access the information they need at home and online. De Piero argues that Vaizey's view is not consistent with Department of Work and Pensions advice to the unemployed to visit their local libraries to research the job situation and retrain.