"Libraries are one of the things by which a civilization is judged. If we lose our public libraries we will have lost one of those things that define us as a civilized country, and regardless of how much money it saves, we will be the poorer for it.

We take so many things for granted – at least until we’ve lost them. And then we say: Remember when we had -

• Free access to books for everyone
• Trained librarians to help us with any aspect of research we needed
• Storytime for children
• Archives of specialist, out-of-print and commercially unavailable books
• Study rooms for students
• Reminiscence therapy for old people
• Comfy chairs just to sit and read
• Communal spaces for author readings, lectures and book group discussions
• A place for anyone to come and share their enthusiasm for reading

Remember when we had all that? Why ever did we let it go?