Government to investigate Lambeth's library plans

Review into whether council plans to turn two facilities into gyms, which have provoked author protests, break the law

The government is to investigate a council’s plans to turn some of its libraries into gyms with unstaffed book-lending sections following a protest against the scheme which won support from authors including Nick Hornby and Ali Smith.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it was treating objections to the Lambeth council plans as official complaints, the first stage in an investigation process which will determine if the south London authority has potentially breached the law.

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