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Proposed cuts to Sheffield’s libraries will be debated in the city after 10,000 people signed a petition challenging the changes.
Around half of the city’s 27 libraries are at risk as the council looks to make £50m of cuts from its overall budget. The Labour-run council is looking for community groups and social enterprises to step in and help run several of the branches.
A consultation on the cuts is currently underway, and due to finish on 8th April. However, a petition objecting to any closures has been handed in to the council after 10,000 people signed it, twice the number needed to trigger a debate in a full council meeting. The issue should now be debated at the next full council meeting, held tomorrow (Wednesday 3rd April).
Shaffaq Mohammed, the leader of Sheffield council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group told the Sheffield Telegraph: “The response from communities across Sheffield has been overwhelming. Local people know difficult decisions need to be taken but that does not excuse Labour’s plan to take an axe to our local libraries.”