School children protest against potential library closures in Devon

On the day that Exeter's Central Library reopens after a multi million pound refurbishment campaigners have been protesting about the potential closure of many of Devon's rural libraries.

School children in Braunton have collected 400 signatures on a petition calling for their village library to remain open.

Braunton is one of 50 libraries whose future is now out for consultation. Devon County Council that runs the library service needs to save £1.5M from its budget this year. The Authority is proposing that social enterprises or volunteers take over these libraries to cut its own costs.

The protests come as Exeter's largest library reopens after a £4.5M refurbishment. The Authority is stressing that the money for the work came largely from the sale of Exeter Airport and under the law that cash has to be used for capital projects and couldn't have been used to keep the county's other libraries going.

Exeter Library has a new large children's section, a Fab Lab and even a cafe linking the High Street through to Rougemont Gardens.