Spring Hill Library will never reopen. It closed ‘temporarily’ due to a heating problem in December 2022 but after initially promising to make repairs a priority, Birmingham City Council claimed earlier this year that their current financial situation makes that impossible. At a scrutiny committee held on 5 March 2025, they rejected appeals and decided to permanently close the library. Determined not to allow over 125 years of community service to be quietly shelved, we held

Write a poem or story of up to 500 words on the theme of 'Saturday at the library'. Deadline is 25 August 2025.

Saturday is a busy day for public libraries across the city. Now those Saturday library days are under threat. BCC has proposed a 50% cut to Saturday openings across the city. Libraries are not luxuries. They are learning centres, safe spaces, warm hubs, and community lifelines. Birmingham needs more access, not less.