Comments on: Why some libraries should close … but some others definitely should not

By: Cath H

Cath H — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:41:21 +0000

Perhaps someone who has a vested interest in making people pay for their services if they might be available free in libraries might not be the independent person required to comment on this subject.

By: librariesmatter

librariesmatter — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 14:36:13 +0000

Helen Milner doesn’t think Libraries should automatically have a ‘get out of austerity-free’ card, merely on the grounds of being libraries. There is no danger of that. Since 2010 we’ve lost over 500 public libraries and 25% of library staff. Is that not enough?

By: Shirley Burnham (@ShirleyBurnham)

Shirley Burnham (@ShirleyBurnham) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 06:20:54 +0000

You may well count me among those “of a nervous disposition” who might protest at a suggestion that their library should close. As one who has been forced to fight for a small library’s survival for at least eight years, witnessing throughout how much those who do use it benefit from it, my disposition is not improved by the pontifications of remote folk who feel entitled to encourage local authorities in their cost-cutting massacres of libraries. Might it be acknowledged that residents/taxpayers pay for the library service and it is they, locally, who should have maximum influence on whether a public library stays or is destroyed. That basic premise seems to be anathema to those in any capacity who get a kick out of feeling superior to the people who use the service!