Theresa Breslin, the award-winning Scots writer of fiction for young adults, and Liverpool-based Alan Gibbons, an author of children’s books and organiser of the Campaign for the Book, have both written to the chief executive of East Dunbartonshire urging the authority to reconsider axing its mobile library claiming it would hit the most deprived and vulnerable.
The service covers the more rural and outlying areas of the small authority and is expected to be cut as part of plans to save £8 million next year.
The authors’ criticism comes as a leading trade union begins its own campaign to preserve Scotland’s public libraries in the face of the biggest cut in spending in a generation, with £300m going from council budgets next year alone.
Unison, which represents library staff in public, education and special libraries, has produced a special briefing for its branches urging them to scrutinise proposed cuts put forward by councils to identify “attacks on library services”.
There are currently 541 public libraries in Scotland and 82 mobile libraries, serving smaller communities. About one in five Scots borrow from public libraries -- a total of one million people last year.
The introduction of learning centres and learning access points has also led to an increase in footfall.
However, North and South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Falkirk, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Moray have all looked at library provision as part of cost savings measures, including the axing
of mobile libraries in some areas.
East Dunbartonshire’s mobile library serves areas such as Twechar, Waterside and Balmore.
Mrs Breslin, who lives in the area and was previously a librarian, also believes other library facilities in places such as Lenzie, Bearsden and Lennoxtown may come under the spotlight in the next few years.
She said: “This is killing the future, creating a lost generation. It could create wastelands with little hope or aspiration.
“In a society experiencing a widening gap in household incomes, our libraries, in the great tradition on which they were first inaugurated and enshrined in the law of the land, provide access for all.
“At a time of recession you should be extending the library service for a host of reasons. Libraries are often the only open door people have and what we can’t do once we have accessed new openings is pull the ladder up and leave the young people behind.”
Blue Peter Book Award
winner Mr Gibbons is also an educational consultant and has been a regular speaker at the Edinburgh and London book festivals.
In his letter to East Dunbartonshire’s chief executive, he said: “Cuts to library services always hit the most deprived and vulnerable, the young and the elderly hardest.
“At a time when footfall and borrowing have begun to rise, by up to 30% in some areas of the UK, such plans are misguided and damaging.”
East Dunbartonshire leader Rhondda Geekie said: “Unfortunately, the current financial circumstances mean that cuts have had to be made and there has been an impact on services and on jobs across the council.
“Our library provision aims to ensure that all people have access to the service. Through the budget, we have ensured that, rather than closure, our community libraries are maintained but with reduced opening hours.”
