A public meeting was held in Gloucester last night to discuss the future of the public library service in the county. Library users came from many different communities across Gloucestershire. In a packed meeting hall at the GAVCA offices on Eastgate Street, the front row was reserved for invited senior members of the County Council administration.  Several speakers expressed their disappointment that Gloucestershire County Council administration and officers responsible for library services had declined an invitation to the meeting. The meeting was being held following the recent High Court ruling that the County Council's proposed changes to the library service were illegal, and had completely quashed all the council's cuts to library services. The news that the Equality and Human Rights Commission had been called in to help ensure that the Council comply with equality legislation when drawing up their revised library strategy was warmly welcomed.

But many serious concerns were raised, including -

• Why is the County Council refusing to talk to users until after they have drawn up their proposals in January?
• Would the date for the new library proposals of 20 January 2012 really allow the council time to conduct a through, equitable and lawful review?
• Why is the council still promoting community funded and run libraries despite the fact that the judge had declared the proposals to be illegal?
• Why had the County Council spent over £100,000 on legal fees and gone to the High Court instead of listening to the views of the people of Gloucestershire?
• Why did the County Council make staff redundant before the High Court ruling, with the same staff now re-employed on casual contracts and at great expense?
• Why does the County Council not explain how volunteers can have access to the library computer system when this is known to break the Data Protection Act?
• Why are the cuts in Gloucestershire more severe than anywhere else in the country? In Oxfordshire, for example, no libraries are being closed