Campaigners against the closure of a Perth library have claimed the plan was based on “numbers, figures and lies”.
At a public meeting, the Friends of the West Mill Street Library agreed to start petitions in support of the facility.
Perth and Kinross Council has earmarked the library for closure but many elderly and visually-impaired users could be affected as it has many large-print and audio books. In addition, the facility holds a book club.
Wednesday’s meeting heard from library users who said that, if it was closed, many of them could be forced to travel to the North Inch Community and AK Bell libraries.
William Murray, 79, said it was a “fair walk” to the North Inch campus and added that parking was easier in the town centre.
Irene Hamilton, speaking on behalf of the Friends of the West Mill Street Library, claimed the statistics behind the proposed closure of the facility were based on “numbers, figures and lies” and went on: “We have less than two months, so we will launch an e-petition and a newspaper petition to try to keep the library open.
“This library has been here for 30 years and it’s not fair on the people who use it to close it down. The majority of councillors who decided it should be closed have not been through its doors, which is very disrespectful.
“Why close a library down that has multiple uses when you are trying to get people to come to Perth City? We have 120 housebound library members who get books and many of our users are voracious readers.”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said the review process drew “very closely” on the findings of the 2011 Big Listen, which engaged more than 3,700 users of council libraries and cultural venues and examined the number of active borrowers, as well as the footfall, in each library.