Sir – A village meeting in North Leigh demonstrated enthusiastic support for keeping all Oxfordshire’s libraries open by reducing the opening hours of all 43 sufficiently to achieve the required £2m saving.

County councillor Judith Heathcoat and director of social and community services, John Jackson, reminded the meeting that from an economics point of view reduced opening hours would be an inefficient way of making the saving because various fixed costs would form a greater proportion to the total running costs. Leaving aside for the moment that libraries benefit and enrich local communities beyond quantitative measure, I understand that in fact only a proportion of the £600,000 reported to be ‘set aside to help volunteers run libraries’ (Report, March 10) is to support libraries. Nevertheless, if the ‘libraries’ portion of the money were to be used to reduce the £2m saving, the shorter opening hours option would be even more attractive. And the unassailable advantage of keeping libraries open is that if the financial climate improves in a few years’ time, all the library-using communities can share in the better times. Close them now, and they are gone forever.

Geoff Feasey, North Leigh