DARLINGTON’S MP has visited primary school children to hear their concerns about cuts to library services.
Pupils at Mount Pleasant Primary School have been campaigning against the potential closure of libraries across the town.
Darlington Borough Council budget proposals suggest closing Cockerton and the mobile library and transferring resources from Crown Street Library into the Dolphin Centre, while putting the historic building on the market.
Mount Pleasant children have put pen to paper to resist changes to the libraries they visit regularly, writing to council leader Bill Dixon to beg him to reconsider the plans.
Recently, MP Jenny Chapman visited the school to hear more about the pupil campaign, spending time chatting to children and listening to their concerns.
Teacher Jane Telser said: “Our children love going to the library as it’s part of the community and they love books and reading.
“A library is an environment of its own and the children are very upset over this.
“They’ve been studying their rights as a child and one of those is the right to access information.
“They’re also concerned about the impact on older people in the community.”
Jacob Stanford, Mae Withrow and Dillon Sterling, all nine, and seven-year-old Henry Jenkinson are among the protesting pupils.
Mae said: “We need our libraries so that we can access information and learn more.
“We all want them to stay.”
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