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British Library Users Try to Halt ClosuresCitizens riled by the threatened closure of some 50 public libraries by local governments in the United Kingdom continued to show their displeasure as plans progressed.Some 50 adults and children staged a protest March 2 in front of the Fleetville Library in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, and managed to collect 300 signatures on a petition to save the library, slated for closure by the county council. “Millions of pounds have been spent in the city center, which is such a mess,” said protester Sally Ripley in the March 9 Herts Advertiser, “and now they want to close a library that gives so much joy to local people.” More than 150 people braved freezing weather the same day in front of the Hersham Library, one of six county libraries facing closure because the Surrey county council has to make up for a shortfall in government funding. Parents, teachers, and students from the nearby Burhill Infants’ School were among those protesting, along with Councilor Bob Mott, who said in the March 8 Surrey Comet, “We’re not giving up. We’re the people living in Hersham and we say the service it’s given to the community is too good to lose.” Noted children’s writer Nick Arnold, author of the “Horrible Science” series, visited an elementary school in Appledore in early March to encourage kids to join and use the public library, threatened with closure recently by the Devon County Council. He offered a free book or magazine to every child under the age of 16 who borrows a book from Appledore Library before March 18. “Sadly, libraries all over Devon are closing,” Arnold said in the March 8 North Devon Gazette, “but children can play their part in keeping them open by joining their library and using it as much as they can.” In many cases, county councils are closing smaller libraries in an attempt to save money that can be used to improve larger facilities or more effectively allocate their shrinking library budgets, the Western Morning News reported March 9. Posted March 10, 2006. |
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