UNISON joined groups from across the community today to lobby MPs on the threats to library services throughout the country.
General secretary Dave Prentis told the hundreds of campaigners gathered in Westminster Central Hall that “more people use the library service than go to Premier League football matches or go to the cinema each week.”
And he saidd that it is “a tragedy” that library services are being seen as a “soft touch” by politicians wanting to make cuts, with more than 600 under threat across the country.
“We need to defend the achievements of 150 years of our public library service,” he said. “If we don’t do it, who will?”
And to applause, he stressed the importance of libraries to all in the community, from the young to the old, the unemployed to the parent.
Campaigners then left the hall to lobby their MPs in Parliament, calling on them to recognise libraries as a vital resource and service, and act to save them.