LIBRARY enthusiasts gathered at County Hall, Exeter, on Tuesday, to present petitions against planned library closures before Devon County Council's Executive Committee meeting that was to announce public consultation arrangements. Parties of protesters from Kingsteignton and Kingskerswell were joined by individuals from many of the areas where 12 libraries are threatened with closure. The petitions against closure, signed by thousands, were presented to council leader Cllr Brian Greenslade. Public questions all involved library closure. Cllr S Hammond, for example, said the quoted reason for closing libraries was to improve frontline services. Did this not apply to all libraries? Cllr Sheila Hobden replied that the council's intention was to improve libraries. This theme continued through the presentation of consultation arrangements. The consultation report, written by Edward Chorlton, director of environment, economy and culture, offered a vision of the new library service Devon is striving to attain – a uniform service across the county, increased opening hours, high quality stock and round-the-clock access. The consultation will take the form of a touring exhibition that will visit each of the libraries threatened with closure, and explain the new service. Questionnaires will form part of the consultation. These, available on-line and at all static and mobile libraries, will include information about the limited resources available for libraries, their usage, the condition of the buildings and the historic but now inappropriate positioning of libraries across Devon. There will also be information about how the new libraries at Tiverton and Dartmouth have increased the number of library users. A random sample survey will also be carried out during the consultation period, which will run through the summer months. The results will be reported back to the executive committee in the autumn. Councillors approved the outlined consultation programme. Cllr Hobden said: 'This whole project is to improve the library service, which is at present spread unevenly across the county. 'It is incumbent upon us to offer tax payers the best service possible across the county. Respondents to Our Devon survey agreed that libraries needed to be improved – 48 per cent said this, against seven per cent who did not want improvements. This is not about budget cuts.' Councillors welcomed the 'genuine consultation' that was planned. Cllr Christine Channon said the proposed library closures had 'got off on the wrong foot' and encountered 'boxes of banana skins', some of which had been stepped on. She warned that the initial library proposal was 'a rather brutal paper' and said: 'You will get hostility if people think you're not listening.' There was also criticism of the council for putting out a report of library closures in advance of the executive meeting in January. Carolyn Moist, of the Kingsteignton library protest group, who attended the executive meeting, was disappointed by the county council's response. 'They are not taking on board how library closure will affect people's lives,' she said. 'We have an outstanding library at Kingsteignton, with computers and internet access that are so appreciated by people. 'People wouldn't have asked for libraries to be improved if they knew it would mean small libraries closing down.'