So, the council is considering £600,000 cuts to our library services (The Press, February 14).

We’ve got used to accepting substandard services with a sharp intake of breath and a tightening of the lips. But let’s be sure we really understand the babies that we are so casually throwing out with the bathwater.

Take Acomb library: a place where staff step in when we can’t fathom the technology, save the right books for us, order taxis for us. Because at this library, books are only one part of their work.

It’s a community hub with spaces for people to come, meet as groups or sit in the café. New mums and children. Young people, cold people, would-be workers, lonely workers. Older people too. A real one-stop shop.

A friend of mine, Pete, was a big fan. ‘I read a book once,’ he said. But he was in the library most days, telling stories or playing dominoes. Left his money to Acomb Explore when he died.

Einstein said: ‘Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.’ Books are not the whole story. Let us cut with care.

Jan Hamer, Carr Lane, Acomb

 

Who are Labour?

Sir Keir Starmer says the Labour Party has changed under his leadership. Very true. It has never been so bad. The Party has no agenda whatsoever for the future.

TJ Ryder, Acomb, York