I WAS appalled to discover that the decision to close Old Town Library together with at least two others has already been taken.

The reasons for the opposition to this move have been rehearsed too often to need repetition, I don’t imagine that the council knows (or cares) how people in wheelchairs or with several small children are actually going to get to our splendid new Central Library? This is a town which makes many claims to culture, claims which sound increasingly unconvincing.

The apparent suddenness of the decision on library closures, or did I miss something, suggests that a fait accompli was thought the best way of silencing protests. It appears that very few people wrote to object, most of us didn’t realise that we needed to!

Of course we wish well the volunteers planning to help run the Walcot Library but they can be no substitute for the professional services we are entitled to. Had Coun Mallinson taken the trouble to study the requirements for such work, he would hardly have made his ill-judged comments about the residents of Old Town.

Those of us who can manage to actually get to the Central Library, using the reduced and more expensive bus service, will doubtless learn to appreciate its excellent facilities but, with the closure of several branch libraries, the town will have lost something very valuable.

MARGARET ANDERSON Avenue Road Swindon