CAMPAIGNERS are gathered outside Aberdeen City Council's civic offices to protest against the proposed closures of six libraries across the city.
Cuts to services in the Ferryhill, Cults, Cornhill, Kaimhill, Northfield and Woodside areas are scheduled to go ahead on April 1 in a bid to save £280,000 from the council budget.
A meeting of local councillors this afternoon has been picketed by the grassroots group Save Aberdeen Libraries, which met with politicians prior to the meeting to hand over "love letters" in support of the centres.
READ MORE: Scots libraries should be staffed like any other council service
Other library services in the city could also see their hours cut to save on running costs in swingeing budget restrictions that also include swimming pools.
The SNP/Lib Dem administration's spending plans were passed on March 1.
Sean McNamara, Head of CILIP in Scotland, the professional body for librarians, called the closures "hugely damaging" for Aberdeen.
Full unlimited access to The Herald is only £2 for 2 months.
👉 Click here to get this offer 👈
He said: "These closures will be hugely damaging for Aberdeen's communities and a very short-sighted decision.
"Libraries across Scotland are well used and never been more vital after lockdowns and in a cost-of-living crisis by providing equitable access to books and IT, supporting health and wellbeing and economic development and reducing social isolation.
READ MORE: Scotland's libraries are facing a 'slow death'
"These closures would potentially leave Aberdeen with the lowest provision per person in Scotland and for no detailed community consultation to have been undertaken is outrageous and risks Aberdeen city council not meeting its legal obligation to provide libraries that meet local residents' needs."
The council has previously said that residents will be able to use library services at 10 branch libraries in locations across the city, Central Library in the city centre, or on the council website.
However, locals have reacted in fury to the decision, organising a campaign group, petitions and arranging protests such as a read-in event similar to those seen in Glasgow last year when Glasgow City Council libraries were under threat.
Marc Lambert, chief executive of the Scottish Book Trust, told the BBC that library closures were a pattern seen around the country.
READ MORE: Giving books to a child is a gift of memory and of love
He said: "I understand that councillors have very difficult decisions, and in fact choices, to make that they don't want to make.
"But what is being missed here is not only what a library does for a community but the longer-term benefits of having a library in a community in lots of different areas of life.
"Perhaps the most important thing is an ordinary citizen's access to information, entertainment, instruction and enlightenment."
Aberdeen City Council has been contacted for comment.
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 here