SUNLIGHT streams through the windows, babies giggle and mums chatter and sing, while at the other end of the room smiling staff greet regulars who have walked from their homes to borrow books or use the internet.

It’s just another regular day in the busy life of Lytchett Matravers library.

But all this could soon come to an end if Dorset County Council goes ahead with plans to close 20 libraries across the county in a bid to save more than £650,000 from last year’s budget of £5,140,000 for its 34 libraries.

Libraries in Corfe Mullen, Sturminster Newton, Upton, Lyme Regis and Littlemoor could be struck from the closure list at a meeting of the Community Overview Committee on Thursday but others, including those at Colehill, Corfe Castle, Lytchett Matravers, Stalbridge, West Moors and Wool, could still face the axe.

It means that scenes like the one at Lytchett Matravers library yesterday afternoon could soon be a thing of the past.

But friends groups supporting libraries in the county are clubbing together in a bid to fight back, forming the Association of Friends of Dorset Libraries.

Graham Lee, chairman of the friends of Lytchett Matravers library, said the proposals had been put forward with ‘absolutely no consultation’ with friends groups.

“We realise that there is a need to be prudent in the present financial climate, but what we would like to see is a review taken right across the board,” he said.

“What they’ve done is single out community libraries and not those in towns.”

Lytchett Matravers library hosts a wide range of events and activities for all ages including babies’ Rhyme Time, Toddler Time, coffee mornings, reading groups, MP, councillor and police surgeries and regular author visits.

Villagers say it brings the community together and that they would be, quite simply, lost without it.

Nigel Penn-Gaskell moved to Dorset from Wokingham in Surrey a year ago, and chose Lytchett Matravers purely for the local library.

He said: “I gave up reading but this encouraged me to start again. It’s a fantastic size, there’s a good selection of books and it caters for all ages. I’ve never been in the library when it’s been quiet, and that speaks volumes.”

Clair Haynes was at the library with 19-month-old daughter Sophie for Rhyme Time.

She said: “This is one of the busiest libraries. There’s always something going on here and all types of people from the community use it.

“The staff here know everyone with kids and they know both my daughters by name. I’m absolutely disgusted by this.”

Emma Moors, at Rhyme Time with son Ethan, eight months, added: “There’s so much going on for the children. I spend a lot of time here in the holidays colouring or looking at books.

“It’s all very well to say we can go to the bigger libraries, but not everyone has transport.” Barrie Carswell, 69, visits the library most days and is one of four generations of his family who use it. Barrie’s daughter Natasha Barr, 41, is a regular and her daughter Rebekah Barr, 20, and Rebekah’s daughter Lexi Earl, six months, attend Rhyme Time every week.