Families in Birnam and Dunkeld have taken to the streets to urge councillors to save their local library.
Around 100 people staged a protest outside the Birnam Arts venue, by Dunkeld, where the library is currently based.
The demonstrators ranged from pre-schoolers to pensioners.
Many carried hand-drawn placards and banners.
It comes as councillors prepare to set Perth and Kinross Council’s budget for the year ahead on Wednesday.
Councillors set aside £173,000 last year to keep the libraries in Alyth, Auchterarder, Birnam, Comrie, North Inch (Perth) and Pitlochry open.
However, they also allocated £150,000 for a council-wide review of its leisure and cultural assets.
And the outcome of that study included a shake-up of library provision.
Birnam library is a lifeline, say campaigners
Under the plan, libraries could become part of community campuses, or could share space with other council and public buildings.
Mum Caroline Wilding says it’s not clear what that will mean for Birnam library.
But she says locals are not willing to leave it to chance.
“We understand that the library has been part of our community for over 140 years,” she said.
“We are not prepared to let 2024 be its final year of operation.”
More than 60 of the people who attended Saturday’s protest signed an open letter to local councillors urging them to save the service.
The library is currently open around 10 hours a week, on Thursday evenings and Friday and Saturday mornings.
Caroline says it’s an important part of the Birnam Arts programme.
It’s also a boon for book-mad children like her own, and a lifeline for older residents.
“Birnam is the smallest library in Perth and Kinross, but it is very well used and very well loved,” she said.
Libraries part of wider council shake-up
The future of library provision is part of a major review of Perth and Kinross Council’s three arms-length external organisations.
Consultants say Culture Perth and Kinross – which runs the libraries – could be working more closely with Live Active Leisure and Perth Theatre and Concert Hall.
Councillors voted to proceed with a plan put to them by officials in December.
It included a recommendation to “consolidate key library provision to community campuses and the AK Bell Library”, as well as a recommendation that they “co-locate other rural library services where possible within the wider council/public estate”.
It’s not yet clear what that will lean for rural libraries in Birnam and elsewhere.
The same review recommended the closure of Perth’s three main sports venues.
A spokesperson for Culture Perth and Kinross said: “Until the budget process of Perth and Kinross Council reaches completion, and we have had the opportunity to thoroughly review its outcomes, we are unable to make any further comments.”
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