Authors protest over Camden Council library cuts (UK)

A pair of best-selling novelists are protesting against the feared closure of a library in north London. Tracy Chevalier, who wrote Girl With a Pearl Earring, and Julian Barnes, author of Flaubert's Parrot, live near Highgate Library, which could be hit by spending cutbacks. Camden Council is consulting on saving £2m from its library service. The council says there is no definite closure plan. It is looking at reducing opening hours and stock spending. But that did not stop local parents and the authors from organising a We Love Highgate Library day on Saturday. Author Doris Lessing and poet Michael Rosen sent messages of support, while Frank Dobson MP attended the protest