Keywords
Citation
(1999), "UK library closings halted", The Bottom Line, Vol. 12 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.1999.17012cab.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
UK library closings halted
Keywords: Federal government, Funding, Finance
Britain's Secretary of Culture, Chris Smith, has prevented the proposed closing of many library branches. According to the London press, Smith wrote to 15 local councils "demanding that they improve their library services." This was the first time since the 1964 Libraries and Museum Act was passed that a Secretary of Culture has intervened in council plans to cut library services. The proposed closing of close to 50 libraries elicited a harsh public outcry which, combined with Smith's actions, may prevent the closing of all but a few of the libraries.