Children protest closure of their library

Bollington children and their families met outside Bollington Library to protest at its threatened closure.

Many of the schoolchildren brought drawings of the library they’d prepared for their protest.

Four libraries, Bollington, Alderley Edge, Handforth and Disley, are under threat of closure. Unsurprisingly, Cheshire East Council refuses to confirm or deny – no doubt the council will ‘consult’ residents on the closures.

Of course you can interpret any ‘consultation’ as proof that the library will close – the council will merely be going through its usual posturing.

Cheshire Live reports Sarah Mazzei-Scaglione, from Daisy Bank Nursery School, as saying: “It is vital for their future learning that younger as well as older children benefit from regular visits to their local library because it helps them develop those literacy skills which are so critical in later life.”

Siobhan Alexander, a parent organiser, said “Bollington Library plays a big role in the lives of these children, which is why they are here in such large numbers.

“Cheshire East councillors should not be even considering closing libraries or slashing their hours.”

Nigel Macartney, of Friends of Bollington Library, told the LDRS today (Monday): “We expect Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee to publish on the website on Thursday of this week their proposals for consulting on what’s going to happen with the libraries.

“On July 18 that committee will meet in Macclesfield Town Hall, and we will certainly have large numbers from Bollington there and hopefully we’ll be allowed to speak.”

He added: “We don’t officially know what it’s in the paper, we’ll find out on Thursday, but we are hopeful Cheshire East is retreating from the draconian closures of a quarter of the libraries to something where we can perhaps have a dialogue with them about achieving something more acceptable.”

The Environment and Communities Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, July 18, at 10am at Macclesfield Town Hall.