'Funding cuts leave rural libraries at disadvantage' (UK)

Plans to cut staff at Goring library have been branded "stupid" by parish councillors. The library in Station Road is one of 16 that face losing two-thirds of their staff funding under proposals from Oxfordshire County Council. The others include those in Sonning Common, Benson, Woodcote and Watlington. The cuts mean volunteers would be needed to maintain the current opening hours but the libraries would be given free use of their buildings, access to the council's book stock and computer network and professional support from librarians. A meeting of Goring Parish Council on Tuesday heard claims that the county council's reasons for targeting certain libraries were driven by an anti-rural bias - Henley Standard