CommonSpace columnist Steve Topple arguing the case for saving UK’s libraries: “spineless politicians are cutting more than books.”
WITH the news on Tuesday that libraries across the UK were closing at alarming rates and that swathes of the workforce had been replaced with volunteers, many seemed surprised by this apparent attack on one of the principle foundations of society as we know it.
However, this is not some ‘new’ crisis.
Campaigners have been warning about the threats these institutions face since 2009, when councils like Wirral were already proposing to shut most of their library services owing to budget constraints after the 2008 financial crisis. These cuts to library services have only snowballed since then, and yesterday’s report stated that nearly 400 have closed since 2010, with a quarter of all staff being laid off and the number of volunteers nearly doubling.
Read the full article on CommonSpace.