Communities needing libraries as much as ever | Letters

Simon Jenkins says "Our libraries are in trouble "" (22 December) and suggests the solution is to make them places of "human congregation" run by town councils and other neighbourhood groups. Our local library is already a place where many groups meet and a variety of services are provided. It also performs a public good in providing computers and internet access for those who cannot afford their own - many more people than you would think.

Our county council has resisted pressures to close its libraries but they are always potentially soft targets in an era of competing demands and central government cutbacks. Our library has raised its footfall by increasing the range of services it provides. As friends of the library we support it but in no way do we provide any substitute for the work of the public servants who deliver the service.