We asked our Twitter followers if they agreed with novelist Jeanette Winterson, who says there needs to be a radical change in the way public libraries in this country are funded.
Earlier today, Channel 4 News asked Twitter followers whether they use their local library, and if not, what would make them go.
See below for some the responses. Click to follow Channel 4 News on Twitter.
@channel4news Free: wifi, internet, PCs, ebooks & book ordering. Printers, photocopiers, latest DVDs, guest authors. Oh wait, they do!
— Seymour (@SeymourSunshine) November 19, 2012
@channel4news libraries are like slide rules - nothing to be gained by making them better: they have been replaced by calculators (internet)
— Chris D (@chrisd1974) November 19, 2012
@channel4news My local library is now a baby sitting service,a weightwatchers club. no new books books i have read or i own
— Eric Greenwood (@greenwoods4727) November 19, 2012
@channel4news I love my local library - ppl don't realise they offer more than just books, they offer lots of services for the community
— Lucy Green (@Lucy_Ann_Green) November 19, 2012
@channel4news comfy chairs and decent coffee. Oh and books. Obviously
— Ed Fox (@Sandboy39) November 19, 2012
Speaking ahead of a talk which will mark the tenth anniversary of the Reading Agency, Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, told Channel 4 News Culture Editor Matthew Cain there needs to be a change in the way the government pays for libraries.
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