20 libraries in Dorset are threatened with closure, that's 60% of the total. The County Council lost millions by bad investments and we pay the price! They will continue to tack council tax from us to pay for new buildings and inflated salaries but they will give us less in return. Some of our county councillors work very hard and take around £10000 remuneration others, working no harder receive two or three times as much, how does that work? We don't have County elections this year, but when candidates come round for District or Borough elections ask them how their party voted on Library closures, cutting crossing patrols, closing day centres and youth clubs. It's our money they are spending. Are Libraries are precious they should be cared for not slashed.

By daisytess at 16:36 on 03/02/11

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I agree - not everyone has the internet at home, not everyone can afford to buy new books/CDs/DVDs and our libraries are a lifeline for people on a low income/people who are too ill to work. Doctors prescribe books for people to read these days to treat conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression - take those away in rural areas and you are disadvantaging people even further. Conservative councillors: please do not vote blindly for cuts and still expect your people to build the Big Society. No houses will ever be built if you take away the bricks.

By Buymyhouse at 21:42 on 03/02/11
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The comment from Tory Councillors is if you want to read a book buy one,they are cheap enough! on a low income what a choice, loaf of bread or a book? How can youngsters do their homework if they don't have internet at home, and lots don't. Join our Read -In at Wyke Library tomorrow morning, from 12.30, come and read a favourite passage, write a note for our memory tree or max out your library card.

By daisytess at 11:22 on 04/02/11
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Yes, we know DCC are rubbish and the Icelandic fiasco seems to have been swept under the carpet (are they getting the money back? And if so when?) But money-saving decisions are going to have to be made. Lollipop patrols and library seem soft target but, actually, do we really need them? Can we not looking at other ways of providing these services? What about the mobile library. Now there's a great resource that could be more widely used. And if you had one turning up regularly outside a village hall, for example, you could run another village event alongside it, to bring people together. Just a a thought...

By FlatStanley at 12:47 on 04/02/11
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For rural areas the mobile library is great and works well, but it doesn't help with a sixteen year old needing to do a couple of hours internet research for an assignment. We need a mix of both, the County say they will allow volunteers to take over branch libraries but with no IT so it will be impossible to keep track of loans, no computers for use in the building, and most importantly they will not buy new books or allow sharing between branches so the library will quickly become stagnant. I was in the library at Wyke this morning -there were five poeple there when I arrived, in half an hour four more people arrived, three taxis, the librarian knew the borrowers by name, one was over 90yrs old, directed them to the authors they liked, and to similar authors, once their selections had been made a phone call was made for the taxi to collect them. Then a lady with a guide dog was helped by the librarian to change her audio books, the librarian even knew the name of the dog . This was 'social interaction' - otherwise know as chatting, vital to good health - 1 in 10 people apparently suffer from loneliness

By daisytess at 13:44 on 04/02/11
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