A former library head and English teacher has compared the proposed closure of 16 libraries in Fife with the Nazi book burnings of 1933.
Audrey Yeardley of Anstruther contacted The Courier to say she was “saddened” by the Fife Cultural Trust proposals.
And with the Scottish Government recently under fire for slipping literacy standards in classrooms, she said she feared a “divisive” society was being created where an underclass did not have the skills to know what is happening around them.
Mrs Yeardley, who taught English for 18 years in Nottinghamshire and spent eight years teaching English as a foreign language in St Andrews, said: “As a former head of library and resources, and an English teacher, any proposition that denies access to books makes my soul shudder.
“I hope there is an outcry from every teacher in Fife, when they get the gist of what their students will be losing.
“Even though there may be a library within their school walls, it is not the same as walking into the hallowed walls of a public building, with public facilities.
“The title of ‘Fife Cultural Trust’ will relegate itself into an oxymoron if it takes this incredibly stupid decision, given that we, already, have no lessening of young people leaving school unable to read, write and communicate their thoughts in a meaningful sense.
“On May 10, in 1933, a propagandist made a speech to a large crowd of students, glorifying a “strong, great and symbolic deed” as they made a bonfire of 25,000 books containing more intelligence than could be measured in the brains of this very misinformed group.
“I ask myself: how is it that Nazi followers, and Joseph Goebbels got the word out for such a dastardly deed, and so little publicity is being given to the closure of access to so many more?” she said.
Fife Council agreed on Tuesday to carry out a community consultation into the plan, proposed by Fife Cultural Trust.
A total of 16 lenders have been earmarked for closure by 2018, including five in this financial year, with the loss of 25 jobs.
Those plans have gone on hold and the libraries will remain open throughout the consultation.
However, the council faces an overall budget black hole of £77 million, with the trust seeking £813,000 savings.
It wants to establish a “hub and spoke” model with less static libraries and more targeted services across the region.
Abbeyview, Bowhill, Colinsburgh, Crail, Crossgates, East Wemyss, Falkland, Freuchie, Thornton, Glenwood, Kinghorn, Lundin Links, Markinch, Pittenweem, Pitteuchar and Townhill libraries are earmarked for closure over three years.
Thirty-five libraries would remain.