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by Ian Shires on 1 March, 2015
What was cobbled up between Labour and Tories at Thursday’s Council Budget meeting only secures Libraries till the May elections. Whoever is in control after that can, and from what both the Tory and Labour Leaders said, will revisit this decision. This means that the future of all libraries is still under threat.
The decision taken at Thursday’s Budget meeting might on the face of it have secured the short term future of Libraries; however it actually made their long term futures even more precarious. It certainly did nothing to protect those Libraries threatened with closure in 2016/17 namely New Invention, Blakenall and Rushall.
In contrast the proposals contained within the Liberal Democrat Alternative Budget which was voted down by UKIP, Labour and the Tories would have actually secured the long term future of all Libraries including those still under threat in 2016/17 such as the one in New Invention .
The Liberal Democrat proposals would put Libraries at the heart of the emerging Community Hubs plan, enabling people to access a whole range of services from all Partner Agencies, not just the Council. This would spread the cost and give Libraries a sustainable future. Isn’t that what we all want?
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