I WOULD like to respond to Mike Chaney’s letter in the Echo on July 26 about the county council’s decision on the future of our library service.

First, the decision to withdraw funding from nine small libraries does not necessarily mean they will close. We want to work with local people in those areas to keep the libraries open as independent, community-run facilities.

We are proposing to provide books, computers, self-service facilities and staffing expertise to support all nine library buildings – which could then also be opened up for other public uses. The value of this support would be over £5,000 in each case.

Second, councillors were not fed ‘scare stories’ about possible future cuts to council funding. Those cuts are already a reality. Put simply, by 2013/14 our budget will have to be reduced by more than £55m per year, year on year, whatever further cuts may be demanded of us. This country’s economic recovery will take far longer than that. Add to that the certainty of inflation and the growing demand for adult social care, and one gets an idea of the problems to come.

We must ensure that the library service is sustainable and I believe retaining all 34 libraries would have seriously damaged that approach, forcing us drastically to cut spending on staff and books. This would weaken the service across the board, threaten its effectiveness for all Dorset library users and leave it vulnerable to further spending reductions in years to come.

Finally we come to the extraordinary accusation that councillors lost their nerve. How simple it would have been to take the easy path, ignore the problem and curry favour and good headlines.

Yet councillors showed courage and determination in voting for a proposal which was not necessarily popular, but which they felt was the right decision for the future of the library service and those it serves.

• ANGUS CAMPBELL, Leader of Dorset County Council, County Hall, Dorchester