FOR six-year-old Isabel Niland the start of the Oxford Literary Festival was a chance to show her love for libraries.

The annual festival started on Saturday and runs until Sunday. And famous figures from the world of literature will be demonstrating their support for the county’s 20 threatened libraries.

Supporters including Melvin Bragg, Will Hutton and Philip Pullman wore purple ribbons, bearing the message “Save Our Libraries” at festival events over the weekend.

A consultation on the future of the libraries is under way after the county council said it could not afford to run all of them.

Sarah Eddie, from the Save Headington Library campaign, said: “This was the ideal opportunity to launch this campaign. This is something people really do feel strongly about and want to show their support.”