'We will be so sad to see the doors close for the final time': Mum thanks librarians as council axes 21 Northamptonshire book-lending services

Rachael Ball and baby Georgina, 1, have made lots of new friends at Kingsthorpe library and will be sad to see it shut.

This is the view of campaigner Rachael Ball who has been using Kingsthorpe library for over 30 years and fell in love with reading when her grandma first introduced her to books when she was a little girl.After giving birth to baby Georgina, now 1, she has started to use the library service in a different way and takes her daughter to singing classes, which she has been doing since she was six weeks old. She said: “The loss of the children’s services will impact new mums greatly - me and my daughter have met some many lovely friends through the library. It is a wonderful place to educate our children whilst having fun.”This news comes after Northamptonshire County Council yesterday officially announced plans to slash 21 libraries in the county, including Kingsthorpe, after a set-back budget meeting.She added: “Being a new parent can be a completely overwhelming experience and having a local support network is vital. I fear for new mums that will not benefit from this wonderful place. “I personally want to thank the staff of Kingsthorpe Library who are fantastic. I have been taking my daughter to the singing classes since she was six weeks old and she adores it. “I have no idea what we are going to do now. We will be so sad to see the doors close for the final time.”Friend of Moulton Library, Charlotte Yarker has also been fighting hard against the closures.She says one of the main frustrations campaigners have is that Moulton library has been classed as a ‘small library' - which the community believes has made the book-lending service easier to shut down.She said: “We also struggle to understand how the Northamptonshire County Council can justify spending Â£400,000 in the past year helping us to open the brand new library facility in Moulton Community Centre, only to now potentially close it. “This seems to lack forward planning on a colossal scale, and perhaps gives a hint at how the council has found itself in this financial predicament in the first place.”