Baffled at a Bookcase

...a library needs to be handy and local; it shouldn’t require an expedition. Municipal authorities of all parties point to splendid new and scheduled central libraries as if this discharges them of their obligations. It doesn’t. For a child a library needs to be round the corner. And if we lose local libraries it is children who will suffer.

Alan Bennett, first published in the London Review of Books and then in 'The Library Book' (borrowed from Ringmer library, which is threatened with closure).

If you tolerate this...

Ridding our villages, towns and cities of libraries, which are essential in shaping a nation's consciousness, seems like a direct attack on the soul of the country.

Nicky Wire, from 'If you tolerate this...', originally quoted in The Guardian and published in 'The Library Book' (borrowed from Ringmer library, which is threatened with closure).