It appears that more than a quarter of libraries in East Sussex will be closing, and the mobile library service will end... Details of the plans will be discussed at an East Sussex County Council cabinet meeting next week. Spokesman Nick Skelton said "significant cuts from central government" left them with "no choice".
Of course, there are opponents to any scheme to cut library services, including me of course. As a well-known song says 'Libraries gave us power' (A Design for Life), as in, knowledge is power, and the former children's laureate Chris Riddell joins me and urges the council to "think again".
Riddell asserts that "Rather than fewer libraries we need better resourced libraries, we need to cherish the libraries we have. If we lost them, the great tragedy is, we can never get them back."
The cuts have been estimated to make total savings of £653,000 a spokesperson from East Sussex County Council has said. Now, with the main Hastings Library being renovated and due to reopen next year, I imagine it is safe, but what about other library services in Hastings, including the Children's Library? Austerity cuts, hmmm...
Libraries should be saved and improved on, not closed!
See BBC website for more details.
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