Campaigners – fighting to save five Perth and Kinross libraries from closure – will this week present petitions to Perth and Kinross Council.
Over the past few months, the communities of Alyth, Auchterarder, Birnam, Comrie and Scone have amassed around 4000 signatures to their petitions to keep their libraries open.
Library users in each of the affected communities argue libraries provide an “essential” service and play a “crucial role in fostering community engagement and improved wellbeing”.
On Thursday, January 23, members of the campaign group Save Our Rural Libraries will present five petitions from each affected area – and each with hundreds of signatures – to Perth and Kinross Council at its headquarters on Perth’s High Street.
The handing over of the petitions follows a successful demonstration held outside Perth Museum on Saturday, January 11 attended by over 300 protestors. Among the speeches at the protest were performances from Comrie’s Earnsong Choir who sang their opposition to the proposed closures: Library demo choir – YouTube
Further protests are planned next month – including one on February 5 when Perth and Kinross Council’s Finance and Resources Committee is next due to meet. Perth and Kinross Council allocates the funding for Culture Perth and Kinross to operate the area’s libraries on its behalf.
A spokesperson for Save Our Rural Libraries said: “Save Our Rural Libraries has been hard at work gathering signatures for petitions demonstrating our community’s resolve to protect our libraries. Thousands of signatures have been gathered, and we plan to hand over all of our petitions together as one group to the Perth Council Offices at 2 High Street on Thursday the 23rd, at 14:15.
“SORL is also planning further demonstrations in February, to coincide with the Finance Committee meeting deliberating on February 5th about the future of our libraries, and urge anyone concerned about their local libraries and our community resources to attend future protests and join our Facebook group ‘Save Our Rural Libraries’ for more information.”
Councillors will meet to set Perth and Kinross Council’s 2025/26 budget on Wednesday, February 26.