Brought to book

JOHN HUDSON

Tory councillors have attacked raids on Oldham’s book fund.

They say that children will miss out on £2,500 worth of good reads.

The Conservative councillors have discovered that the new access points for areas affected by library closures (Chadderton and Stoneleigh) have been funded from money used to replenish library book stocks.

It came to light as extra funding was granted to extend the opening hours at the Gallery Oldham and the library to Sundays, costing £108,000 a year.

Chadderton Central Councillors Eileen Hulme and John Hudson said they were appalled.

Councillor Hudson, Conservative spokesman for finance said: “The funding for the access points is being taken directly from the Oldham Book Fund and we think this is outrageous.

“If you look at the average price of a children’s book being around £7 then this means our children will be missing out on approximately £2,500 worth of books a year.

“This is daylight robbery.”

Councillor Hulme added: “It is now obvious why the access point at Chadderton (replacing Broadway Library) is so inadequately resourced.

“The Liberals have shown the greatest disrespect to the people of Chadderton by giving them a half-hearted, badly thought out replacement for a popular, thriving, well-loved library.

“They have also shown the greatest disrespect to the borough by using money that should have been going to such a good end and using it to create something so woefully inadequate.”