Library closure not justified

The Tory County Council, in an increasingly desperate effort to meet cost-cutting instructions from their Tory bosses in Whitehall, are about to ‘consult’ on closing the Ore Library.

Local residents will be expected to get on-line or go down to Hastings Town Centre.

This is supposedly an “evidence-based” decision. However, the County’s own needs analysis shows that Ore is in one of the most deprived parts of the county.

It is exactly in such areas that one would expect people to get the most benefit from a modern library service.

Help with literacy, finding jobs, etc. People who would most benefit in this way are perhaps the least motivated to hike down to the town centre library.

The county’s own figures show that people in this area are also amongst the least likely to have access to the internet.

It’s very difficult to see how the county’s own evidence can possibly justify closing the Ore Library.

Furthermore, the Ore Library is one of the cluster of shops, cafes, small businesses and social facilities which sustain Ore going as the beating heart for the local community.

Chipping away at that will cause irreparable social damage. Local residents campaigned successfully to get our Labour Borough Council to change its mind about closing the Ore toilets.

Let’s hope that Tory County Councillors can be persuaded to be as flexible!