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Townsend and Trollope praise Notts libraries

01.01.70 | Katie Allen

Authors Sue Townsend and Joanna Trollope have welcomed Nottinghamshire County Council’s pledge to safeguard all its libraries and invest £20m in the sector over the next decade.

Nottingham has announced it will not close any of its 60 libraries and is to pump £20m into capital programmes and “smaller scale refurbishments” up to 2020.

The council said it is refurbishing libraries for residents in Worksop and West Bridgford, with both Sue Townsend and Joanna Trollope already giving their approval to a new-look £3.4m library in Mansfield.

Trollope said: “I am a huge fan of what Nottinghamshire County Council is doing for local communities and the library service and it was fantastic to visit Mansfield Library and meet everyone there.”

Townsend added: “Libraries are critical to a community's welfare and it is wonderful that Nottinghamshire County Council is investing in them and I wish others would follow suit."

Nottinghamshire’s councillor John Cottee said a further £3.7m has been earmarked for smaller refurbishment projects at other libraries across the county from 2014-2024, while a further £2.1m will be spent on enhancing the county council’s archives service over the next three years.

“We have a clear purpose that is focused around our customers and the local community. Reading, learning, information, heritage and culture are at the centre of what we do and how we design library spaces and activities,” Cottee said.

• Fight for Libraries
• Joanna Trollope
• libraries
• Lisa Campbell
• Sue Townsend