I AM amazed there has been so little protest at the imminent long-term closure of Oxford’s central library.

This is an essential asset used by hundreds of people a day all year round, including students both young and old, from Britain and abroad, by researchers into local and family history, by those who need to use the internet but don’t have it at home, by people (like myself) who need access to the large selection of music scores that are unavailable anywhere else, and many, many others.

Yet it is suddenly announced at very short notice that the library will be closing for one-and-a-half years.

And its ‘replacement’ will be a small shop offering the most basic lending facilities for books and nothing much else.

We are told services will be available at other libraries – but many of these services are unique and in fact not available elsewhere.

This is all happening because of the redevelopment of the Westgate Centre.

The least that planning officials should have demanded of the developers is to pay for an adequate temporary replacement for this precious resort as part of the ‘deal’ they got – considering that this development must have involved many millions of pounds it’s the least they could have offered.

It is not too late for this to be remedied.

LAURENCE HUGHES
River Thames, Oxford