Campaigners fighting the possible closure of Kingsteignton Library have revealed their latest champion. Lord Clifford, whose family has owned the nearby Clifford Estate for centuries, has agreed to become patron of the campaign and welcomed the opportunity to promote the message that reading is an essential community resource. 'I believe that libraries hold all of our history and knowledge that we should be learning from and I'm trying to support anyone who has got a such library of knowledge,' he said. This is not the first time Lord Clifford has involved himself such a campaign. In 1992 he became a trustee for Breadline Africa and used his contacts in London to improve education in southern Africa. 'I managed to get an enormous number of books sent out from the Ranfurly Library, now known as Book Aid International,' he said. 'It meant that people of every age began to read for the first time, initially being taught by Europeans but now by those who originally benefited from the programme themselves.' He said of his new role as patron of the Kingsteignton campaign: 'It was very kind of them to ask me. I believe that as my family has been associated with Kingsteignton for hundreds of years we should be giving them every support. 'The library provides not just books but listening books for the blind, videos and DVDs, a broad section of things useful to many people. 'It's obvious to me that the county's plans are all to do with finance and you don't improve a service by closing it.'
