Newcastle library closures attacked in open letter from authors (UK)

Newcastle council's plans to close "the vast majority" of the city's libraries have been branded "wrong and immoral" by furious authors including Philip Pullman, children's laureate Julia Donaldson and Anne Fine. The council is looking to cut £7m from its library budget, meaning that most of the city's 18 libraries could be under threat. Local reports suggest that only the city centre library will be safe, with Newcastle's other branches all at risk of being shut down or passed to volunteers. An announcement detailing the planned changes will be made next Tuesday, but a spokesman for the council said this morning that "some libraries will go and some will stay open"