Moray Council attracts library closure protest
Protestors fighting the threatened closure of seven libraries in Moray picketed on the steps of the main council building this morning.
The local authority is proposing to close the libraries at Burghead, Cullen, Dufftown, Fochabers, Lossiemouth, Keith and Tomintoul in order to save £275,000.
The protestors say the loss of these libraries – on the back of cuts to public transport – will strike further blows to already vulnerable and marginalised communities.
They added they had come along today to ensure the strength of feeling is felt before councillors make a decision at a meeting in January.
The closures would leave Moray as the only local authority in Scotland with fewer than one library branch per 20,000 people.
In addition, they would leave more than 17,700 Moray residents without a branch within an one-hour round trip via public transport.
One of the protestors, Georgina Barker, a translator and a regular user of Cullen Library, commented on how the council had only given the public only three weeks to officially respond to the closures.
She said: “It shows how disorganised they are. They don’t have a plan. They’re scrambling.”
Meanwhile, Andy Murdy, a health and safety consultant from Keith, stated that the closures would cost the council money in the long-term due to the knock-on effects to education.
He said: “Eighty per cent of our prison population is classed as functionally illiterate.
“We appreciate that Moray Council is facing budgetary challenges due to a lack of funding from central government. But closing libraries is not the answer.”
The council’s official consultation ended on December 1.
However the campaigners have several events planned, including a meeting at Cullen on Friday evening.
Information is available on the ‘Save Our Libraries - Moray’ page that’s been set up on Facebook.
