Council approves £1m library cut for 2025/26. No closures or hour changes. Savings source unclear.
Labour councillors voted for it on Wednesday, while Green Party councillors voted against it. Liberal Democrats abstained from the vote. The council states no libraries will close and opening hours will stay the same.
The council didn’t say where the savings will come from and didn’t respond when asked for details. Laura Swaffield urged against the cuts when she spoke before the vote on Wednesday.
Swaffield highlighted reading’s role in kids’ school success and said libraries provide reading enjoyment. She argued that kids need book choices with librarian help and claimed cuts would harm this process.
Protesters rallied outside the town hall, joined by Unison and NEU members. Councillor Donatus Anywanwu addressed the cuts, saying they’d still invest in libraries.
Anywanwu blamed past government austerity policies. He said they protected library investment but now wants to modernize the libraries and aims to make them accessible too.