Proposed cuts are 'biggest attack' on libraries

A campaign group says proposed funding cuts are the "biggest attack on our libraries" in years.

Save Our Libraries Essex (SOLE) is a volunteer-based group which has campaigned since 2018 to protect local services.

But Essex County Council said it could cut £100,000 from its library book fund and had also proposed to charge for reservations by adults - a move that could save a further £150,000.

Councillor Mark Durham, the authority's cabinet member for the arts, heritage and culture, said: "The reduction of the book fund is 6% from the total amount, and our stocks will be kept up to date."

He added: "Our library users will still have a huge range of hard copy and e-resources to choose from, and we will be expanding our digital offer to minimise impact on our stock costs."

The budget is due to be voted on at a full council meeting on Thursday.

Andy Abbott, 56, campaigner and volunteer for SOLE, said he was four or five years old when he first visited his local library.

He said cuts to library services were more likely to turn away users.

Abbott added that he had found the proposal "quite extraordinary" after the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and the National Literacy Trust launched the National Year of Reading this year.

The programme was launched "to tackle the profound decline in reading enjoyment in the UK and reconnect people of all ages with reading as a relevant and immediately rewarding activity."

Abbott said the proposal "goes against the push to get people reading again", adding: "Our libraries have faced an awful lot of cuts."

The news comes after the council made a U-turn on plans to shut 25 of its 74 libraries in a cost-cutting exercise after protests in 2019.

"We would like our libraries to remain the same. We are hoping to see a positive future for them," Abbott added.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.