Headington residents protest Library Closure

Media Summary

Users of Bury Knowle library in Headington, Oxford, protested against plans to close it as part of the spending cuts implemented by Oxfordshire County Council. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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in Politics, on the 18th of December 2010

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Protesters brave the snow to demonstrate against the closure of Headington Library. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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A user of Headington Library holds a placard in front of the library. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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Placards outside Headington Library. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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Mike Rowley, Labour Councillor for Barton And Sandhills, joins the fight to keep Headington Library open. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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Protesters brave the snow to demonstrate against the closure of Headington Library. Oxford, UK, 18/12/2010.

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Description:

Users of Bury Knowle library in Headington held a public demonstration against plans by Oxfordshire County Council to close it as part of £115m-£155m savings over four years. The library sits in the beautiful grounds of Bury Knowle park, and it is feared that once closed the building could be sold off for commercial development.

A total of 20 out of 43 libraries across Oxfordshire are earmarked for closure, and although Oxford Central Library will remain open many users complained that bus fares are prohibitively expensive, particularly for families, and will greatly reduce the number of visits they can make.

According to figures obtained by local Lib Dem councilors Bury Knowle Library had 153,350 visits with 136,804 items issued in 2009/2010, compared with 582,900 visits and 676,417 items issued for Oxford Central Library, an impressive number considering the tiny size of Bury Knowle Library.

Tags Bury Knowle Park, demo, demonstration, Headington, Headington Library, libraries, library, Oxford, placards, protest, Protesters, snow, snowing, UK spending cuts, Demonstration, Politics, Society

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nice coverage.

Submitted by Petericardo Lusabia on Sun, 19/12/2010 - 20:08.

nice coverage.

I wish the very best to the

Submitted by IanAnstice on Sat, 18/12/2010 - 20:48.

I wish the very best to the Oxfordshire campaign. Sadly, the 20 closing in the county are not along. The count is around 350 threatened libraries in the UK as a whole, and the number is rising. For a list and map of the cuts, please see http://publiclibrariesnews.blogspot.com/. Reasons for defending libraries are at http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/

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