'Do the Tories really want to save Mile Oak library?'

save libraries in the face of cuts, Argus, Tory Talk, February 25).

They have a funny way of showing it.

At the council meeting last week where the annual budget was set, only three councillors voted to save Mile Oak library.

This included myself and fellow North Portslade councillor, Cllr Pissaridou.

Mile Oak library is situated in the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) and this arrangement came about when PACA built a new section of the school where planning permission, granted in 2012, included the setting up of a community library for local residents. The library was well used until 2019 when due to various factors including the removal of the school librarian, difficulty with the mixed use between pupils and residents and the introduction of security measures at the school, the number of residents using the facility dwindled and then, of course Covid happened.

There were 42,146 visits in 2016-17 but, post Covid, visits reduced to 571 in 2021-22. This low number of visits therefore makes the library expensive to run.

What we need, however, rather than closure, is a renewed push on publicising the library with proper street signage and a local awareness campaign for residents – young and old.

Many residents would have difficulty getting to and accessing the satellite library in the Old Shoreham Road. This will surprise some people, but there are pockets of deprivation and poverty in North Portslade and a community library can be a hugely valuable resource in these circumstances.

There was some talk of the setting up a new community hub, where the library could be housed, last year but this appears a long way off. So North Portslade/Mile Oak residents are now faced with the loss of a valuable local facility with only three councillors voting to save it.

Cllr Peter Atkinson

Independent, North Portslade