Jack Reacher would not exist without Birmingham libraries, says his creator

It is said that heroes are made, not born. In the case of the fictional exmilitary action man Jack Reacher, it has emerged that he was made in a library in Birmingham.

- Jamie Grierson

Many public libraries in the city are now under threat from closure, prompting Reacher's creator, the bestselling thriller writer Lee Child, to speak out.

The author, who grew up in Birmingham, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday his famous protagonist would never have existed without the city's libraries that he visited in his childhood.

He said: "You speak to any writer and they'll tell you the same thing - that those early years of reading, reading, reading, reading for decades, that's what turns you into a writer.