I know the Oxford Mail has been inundated with letters objecting to the county council’s appalling proposal to withdraw funding from 20 of our 43 precious libraries, and I’d like to thank you for all your support in this campaign.

As you have reported, many public meetings have been packed with protesters. It’s quite clear that the vast majority of people want all our libraries to stay open, professionally run and publicly funded.

The fate of our libraries will effectively be decided at the full council meeting on February 15, when councillors will vote on the budget proposals.

There is still a chance that the Tory administration might change its mind and keep them open and publicly funded.

Readers can help to bring about a change of heart by writing to every Tory councillor they know, and telling them how strongly they feel about this.

If they can say, for instance, that they intend never to vote Conservative again if these libraries are closed, we could still win this campaign.

Susanna Pressel, Labour spokesman on Cultural Services, Oxford city and Oxfordshire county councillor, Rawlinson Road, Oxford