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A threatened Somerset library has been given a temporary stay of execution, the BBC reports. The Conservative-controlled council planned to close Bruton Library in a cost-cutting move, but it is now safe until Christmas after trustees who own the library building promised to pay for temporary
librarian cover. Volunteers may cover the role from 2011.
Councillor Anna Groskop, spearheading the move to save the library, said she was motivated after a phone call from a 90-year-old to whom it was very important. "He was quite tearful and quite upset because he felt we were taking away something he valued very much," she said.
Up to 1,500 jobs are to go at the council over the next three years due to a £75m budget deficit and councillor Stephen Martin-Scott, cabinet member for strategy and communications, said retiring librarians were not being replaced. "We didn't want to shut the library, what we've got is a recruitment freeze and inevitably a significant number of librarians are coming up to retirement age," he said. "Libraries across Somerset have a net cost of about £5.5m. That's a huge cost and we need to find a better way of doing it."