'Do we really need it?' Council leader questions library service after months of closure

The West Midlands borough’s seven libraries have not resumed service after the November lockdown and Mike Bird has provoked fury by suggesting they may not

Walsall’s council leader has been asked to retract comments he made about the region’s libraries, closed for much of the year due to the coronavirus, of which he said: “I’m a firm believer that if we haven’t used something for the past four or five months, do we really need it?”

Walsall’s seven libraries operated a remote service from July until England’s second lockdown began on 5 November. The Black Country borough is the only one in the region to have operated no library service during the lockdown, and when it lifted on 2 December, Walsall’s libraries remained closed, even though libraries are allowed to be open in tier 3 regions as an essential service.

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