Fifty libraries in at least six different English and Welsh counties are at risk of closure in the coming months because local authorities are struggling to balance this year’s budgets.
Most are in small and sometimes isolated communities. Devon proposes to close 12 but says the money will be reinvested in more popular libraries.
Lancashire plans to close nine. Cambridgeshire has warned it would need to close eight and Northamptonshire three, for example.
David Lammy, culture minister, is writing to all councils urging them not to shut libraries.
References: The Daily Telegraph 23/01/06 page 10
