Murdo Fraser MSP has raised the plight facing many libraries in Perth and Kinross with the SNP Government.
The Scottish Conservative politician recently asked Angus Robertson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, a supplementary question on the issue during a Portfolio Question session on Constitution External Affairs and Culture, at Holyrood.
This follows Perth and Kinross Council recently announcing that they intend to close libraries in Scone, Auchterarder, Birnam, Alyth and Comrie. The move has been met with anger among many local residents and led to a Save Our Rural Libraries campaign.
Those involved have slammed Culture Perth and Kinross’s consultation on the library closure proposal as a “sham.”
Speaking in the Chamber at Holyrood, Mr Fraser said: “Library closures aren’t just being proposed in Perth and Kinross, it is happening right across the country due to cost pressures on local authorities.
"I acknowledge what the Cabinet Secretary said about the value of local libraries but isn’t it time that a proper national strategy to protect the availability of local libraries was carried out, given their importance to the community. And isn’t it time that the SNP Government properly funded local authorities to make sure the libraries can stay open?”
And speaking following the Portfolio Question session, Mr Fraser added: “I was pleased to hear the Cabinet Secretary say he was ‘open to all suggestions’ but we later heard in today’s Scottish Budget that the SNP Government are slashing funding for local councils by £765 million in real terms, so it will be extremely difficult to see the likes of Perth and Kinross Council embark on a U-turn on the plan to close these libraries.”
