Since 2010 almost 800 local libraries have been closed across the UK, with the loss of 10,000 staff, and many surviving libraries are at best part-time. Against this backdrop, it is staggering to read that an investment of £500m has been proposed for the British Library (Green light given for huge British Library extension, 3 February). Communities all over the country are being deprived of free access to not only books and information, but also the internet, which has, since Tony Blair’s People’s Network project, been an important library service. The £500m could start to rebuild our battered and undervalued library network. London does not suffer the cultural deprivation that has been inflicted on the rest of the UK and which is relentlessly lessening the lives and educational prospects of ordinary people.
Kathryn Davidson
Broughty Ferry, Dundee
