The Guardian view on librarians: guides to life, not just to books
The closure of libraries due to council cuts has been well documented. But the loss of staff in remaining branches is equally serious
It is often only when we lose things, or risk losing them, that we realise how much we value them. As public library budgets have shrunk and doors have closed – with around 500 branches shut in England since 2010, and around the same number – people who had. Cressida Cowell, the new children’s laureate, is urging that school libraries be made a statutory requirement. But the fate of librarians has largely escaped notice.
