Meetings to secure future of libraries

Community-conscious locals have been urged to have their say on the future of five Perthshire libraries recently saved from potential closure.

- JOHNATHON MENZIES

In response to local campaigning, Perth and Kinross Council committed an additional £1 million over the next two years to safeguard the facilities in Alyth, Auchterarder, Birnam, Comrie and Scone when the local authority set its budget earlier this year.

And special gatherings are to be held at each of the locations early next month to discuss the next chapter.

Ahead of the meetings, a spokesperson for Culture Perth and Kinross - which runs the region's libraries on behalf of PKC - said: "The last six months have been exceptionally challenging for libraries, our communities and our staff.

"The prospect of service reduction or closure was driven by available resource and never by how much we value the services we deliver.

"The meetings and correspondence we have had with community representatives have been heartening as they so clearly demonstrated how highly our services are valued by the communities they serve."