Ex-library boss urges users to sign petition

Dawn Spooner, who ran the branch until last year after 28 years in the library service, says it could still close and she is urging people to sign an e-petition which has been set up online at County Hall.

The County Council has confirmed that, as a result of massive Government cuts, it will have to close 40 of Lancashire’s 74 branches next month.

There have been various suggestions within the town that Fleetwood’s main branch on North Albert Street is unlikely to close because the town is recognised as a deprived area, because of the investment in the premises and because the town has a second branch – Northfleet.

But Mrs Spooner, who lives in Fleetwood, says there are no guarantees.

She said: “I would urge as many people as possible to sign the petition as soon as possible.

“We have to remember that there are many other branches across Lancashire that may have even greater reason to be saved.

“There are rural communities which would be left isolated if their branches closed, yet in this part of Wyre there are several branches close together in Fleetwood, Cleveleys and Thornton.

“My personal view is that Fleetwood would be devastated if we lost our library branch.

“It is a focal point of the community – it bring groups together, gives people access to computers and promotes literacy.”

Mrs Spooner, whose is now employed as the community development officer at Fleetwood Town Council and lives in the town, said she also had personal reasons for wanting to see the Fleetwood branch saved.

She said: “Fleetwood was the first branch I ever worked at and my father was even a quantity surveyor who worked on the building before it opened in the late 1980s.”

The petition, so far signed by 39 people, has been set up by Lancashire County Council as part of its consultation process into cutbacks.

To sign the online petition at County Hall, log onto: http://council.lancashire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?Id=106