13 libraries saved in Cambridgeshire

John Bald writes:

Cambridgshire County Council’s new leader, Nick Clarke, kept his promise to listen to public opinion by reducing cuts in Cambridgeshire’s library budget from £3.2m to £1m this year, thus saving 13 libraries from the imminent threat of closure.

This should be a beacon to Conservative authorities across the country – libraries have to take their share of cuts in hard times, but the original proposition was disproportionate, as are library cuts across the country, notably in Labour authorities, which generally consider literacy to be an elitist concept, and are not sympathetic to it. Libraries are essential to civilised life, both for the growing number of children who do not have their own books, and for adults who need their services for study and to help look for work.