Quagmire
Sir: Thank you for giving space to the impending bookless plight of Bucks.
Mr Crosland has stated this week that the country receives a Rate Support Grant of 66 per cent. In Bucks it is only 43 per cent. Our rates have had the biggest rise in the country. We have the second highest expenditure on education and libraries in the countr y (58.119p in the rates goes to education, libraries and museum). The library receives 1.1p in the E. One-third of a penny more would ensure the full service.
° In this village (population approximately 4,000) the former primary school was extravagantly transformed into a luxurious library which opened in December with a modest stock of 3,000 'books. The structural conversion, costing E21,000, was paid for by the Education Committee whose cuts have now imposed bookbuying sanctions throughout the county.
These assorted facts offer one tiny example of the bureaucratic quagmire in which our poOr country is now floundering.
Margaret Yorke Oriel Street, High Strret, Long Crendon. Bucks
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