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"I have no way of posting on Lis Pub Libs, but my response to the posts by both John Dolan and Sarah Wilkie would be this: " You are both crediting my presentation with more information than it contains. If you look at it, it shows (slide 9) , from figures issued by the council for the current year, that the cost of operating 34 libraries and mobiles is £3.52m (including the materials fund) and that the non-library based costs of the library service in Somerset (excluding any council service recharges) are £2.98m. My recommendation was not that the office should be shut but that in seeking a budget reduction of £1.35m, the council should seek the savings first in the offfice rather than in the operation of the libraries themselves. (Slide 10). Of course I understand that Bookstart, the Summer Reading Challenge and other activities can be important additions to the service provided in the libraries themselves, but it seems reasonable to ask that such work that cannot be carried out in libraries themselves, could be contained within an overall office budget of £1.65m.' I do believe that such scrutiny of the non-library based operations should have taken place before the proposals to close libraries were made and that they would reveal even more opportunities to direct funds on to the front line, including a substantial increase in the book fund." Tim lis pub