Authors claim victory after Liverpool drops library closure plans

City cancels massive planned cuts following protest by 500 writers including Carol Ann Duffy, Caitlin Moran and Jonathan Coe

A love letter to Liverpools libraries from an army of major writers depicting the planned closure of 11 branches as a massacre has been answered by the citys council: all 18 of Liverpools libraries will stay open.

Last month a group of more than 500 writers, musicians, actors, artists, illustrators and educators, including childrens laureate Malorie Blackman, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Caitlin Moran, Jonathan Coe and Meg Rosoff, joined childrens authors Alan Gibbons and Cathy Cassidy in a missive calling on the people of Liverpool to add their voices to concerns about the threat to 11 of Liverpools 18 libraries. The council had seen a 58% cut in its government funding, which it had said necessitated a £2.5m loss to its library service.

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