UK campaign group Voices for the Library to close

The UK campaign group Voices for the Library has announced that it will disband because its volunteers ‘can no longer undertake the work required to be a voice for public libraries’, reports the Bookseller.

The group said in a final statement: ‘As libraries are increasingly forced onto local community groups to run them on a so-called voluntary basis (there is nothing “voluntary” about it), we are clear that there is only so much volunteers can do before reality hits and the service starts to fall apart at the seams. Volunteer run libraries are, in essence, a disaster waiting to happen for the people that rely on their local public library service.’

The group, which was created in 2010 to campaign against budget cuts to UK public libraries, said individual members ‘will continue to speak up for libraries’.

Category: Library news International