LIBRARIES are for people and communities and mental development. They’re part of our culture.

Should a country as rich as Britain be making war on literature, on culture itself?

We worry about rising crime, the young have nothing to do, obesity and mental illness are increasing, especially in young people, old people in isolation, yet all we can do is worship austerity as an act of nature. It's not.

It's man-made by well-off people who do not need to use libraries.

It's a scandal of political making. In Castle Point, we should not need to worry.

We have an MP who used to be a publisher before she was shoehorned into a safe seat. Can she not be relied upon for help? I'd be very surprised if she will not champion books and reading.

ROBERT HALLMANN

Castle Road, Hadleigh