A GROUP established last year to oppose plans to shut all-but-one of the town’s libraries has found itself in the running for a Pride of Swindon Award.

The Save Swindon Libraries team has made the judges’ shortlist for this year’s awards, and will now attend the presentation ceremony at Steam next month where they will find out if they have won.

Putting them forward for the award, the group’s nominator said: “The Save Swindon Libraries grew out of a Facebook group and a team emerged who organised a petition which quickly gathered over 2,000 signatures and was presented to the council. They made appearances at a range of local events to drum up support and raise funds, and even won an award at the Old Town Parade for the best parading group as they dressed up as famous literary characters to raise awareness of their cause.

“They arranged several public meetings and managed to gain support from a wealth of authors and illustrators. They made detailed and costed submissions to the council consultations and managed to increase the number of core libraries to be saved to three, but continued to campaign and spread the word ahead of the final library consultations.

“They set up another petition to this time include Parks library in the core provision, as they were conscious that it served some of the most deprived parts of the town and was a huge asset in driving up literacy rates in Swindon. They succeeded. The group attended a national march in support of Libraries and managed to get the Save Swindon Libraries banner right to the front and in almost every picture that made the national papers.

“It is hugely heart-warming to see a group of Swindon residents come together to make such a difference.”

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on Thursday, March 16.