LIBRARIES are part of a civilised community and need protecting, MP Barry Sheerman believes.

The Labour backbencher was talking about library provision in the House of Commons yesterday.

He asked Ed Vaizey, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport: “What assessment has been made of the number of library closures in England in 2013?”

He added: “Opposition members do not believe that there should be no change to the library service. We have to move with the times.

“However, libraries are the centre of a civilised community. They should be updated, but they are havens where people can go and where kids from poorer homes can do their homework.

“We should look at them as a setting in the community.

“It is the Government’s job to lead on this important issue.”

The minister replied: “Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient public library service and to fund the service.

“Local authorities have always paid for libraries and have always provided them, and they fund them with more than £800m a year.

“Thousands of libraries are open up and down the country and new libraries are opening. Our library service is in very good health.

He added they had set up a fund of £6 million at the Arts Council to support libraries.