Disappointment Over Library Response

Fife Council is facing fresh calls for a rethink of libraries in Fife.

Current proposals would see 15 closed across the Kingdom - including Glenwood Library.

The issue was raised a meeting of the Glenrothes Area Committee last week but campaigners say they were disappointed by the response.

They claimed none of the councillors from the Labour administration, or the chair - independent Councillor Bill Brown - were willing to show outright support for the library.

Local resident Leslie Bain had initially asked them to commit to saving as many libraries as possible, and then to agree that closing Glenwood was wrong.

SNP Councillor Julie Ford said she was "appalled" the committee members refused to state their position, despite previously attending campaign meetings about library closures.

Her colleague, Councillor Craig Walker accused Councillor Brown of allowing the question to be asked, only to table an amendment preventing it from being answered.

He said libraries are important to the quarter of children in Glenrothes West and Kinglassie living in poverty: "Only 33.6% of Ward 14 school leavers go into Higher Education.

"Libraries can play a key role in our fight against poverty. They are gateways to learning, and learning is a pathway out of poverty.

Closing libraries is the complete opposite of what we should be doing. We should be investing in libraries - reading groups, classes, areas for teenagers - not cutting back."