THE decision by Moray Council to press ahead with the closure of seven rural libraries, despite overwhelming public opposition, and in the face of its own specially commissioned equalities impact assessment, is a disgrace ("Vote to see half of all libraries shut is branded 'staggering'", The Herald, September 11).
It will have devastating consequences on those who rely on the range of services these libraries provide. Once again the penny-pinching council administration bloc has badly let down the citizens of Moray with this act of cultural and societal vandalism.
These rural libraries provide lifeline services to many of their users, and are a vital tool in advancing an educated, socially active, engaged and online community - all vital traits for the successful and vibrant society we all want - and a key foundation on which to build any meaningful economic development.
Instead we see a move in the opposite direction towards disenfranchisement and isolation affecting all vulnerable groups; from the elderly who want to learn the computer skills to keep in touch with their grandchildren; to young children just learning to read and beginning their adventures in the boundless world of books. This is a move that will be far more costly in the long term.
Councillors have a duty to protect the welfare of their citizens, and while the numbers using these libraries is allegedly small, these are the people who are often the most vulnerable, and to see so many councillors vote to axe the libraries on their own doorsteps, in the face of their own equalities impact assessment, is not only a failure in that duty but also paints a shameful picture of Moray.
I have no doubt that the campaign to save our libraries will continue.
James MacKessack-Leitch
Convenor,
Moray Green Party,
Carden,
Alves,
Elgin.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article