Thursday, April 18, 2013

The 2013 Manifesto: Suffolk Liberal Democrats (part 5) - Libraries

It was Suffolk Conservatives who placed the County's library service under threat, and I admire their audacity in claiming to have protected them. But the brutal fact is that they only did so when it became apparent that closures were incredibly unpopular, and their cynicism in announcing that they would be saving them just before key local elections shouldn't be forgotten.

Safety for our Library service, including mobile libraries

Under the Tories the situation of Suffolk Libraries has been perilous.

Liberal Democrats will:
  • support ALL our libraries to meet current needs and satisfy foreseeable trends
  • enable mobile libraries to continue to provide a service in rural areas
  • ensure that the new business structure for libraries is stable and that long term finance is guaranteed

In particular, I take an interest in the mobile library service, living in a small village. The halving of the number of visits to villages such as Creeting St Peter has increased levels of social isolation, and makes it easier to withdraw the service altogether, so I am naturally sceptical of any Conservative promise to protect a service that they have already cut.

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