I am absolutely delighted that Whalley Library will be re-opening on Monday 29th January. This is testament to the huge effort expended by the Save Whalley Library Campaign in lobbying Lancashire County Council and Government Ministers to reverse the decision taken by the previous Labour administration to close this important Community facility. I would personally like to thank the residents of Whalley and Billington for their fantastic level of support in backing the campaign. Not only did nearly 1,900 people sign the petition against the closure and push campaign literature through nearly 5,000 letterboxes but also their reaction since the announcement was and has been overwhelming - we held a large number of public meetings when putting together the campaign and subsequently nearly 2,500 people have retweeted and forwarded my messages on Twitter and Facebook about the re-opening. This is an indication of the strength of public feeling within the community and shows how important a community asset the Library is.

I would like to single out a small number of people for particular praise: Neil Martin, My very capable co-chair of the Save Whalley Library Campaign who built the Facebook Page and Web-Site and constructed the on-line petition via Change.org; Gillian Derbyshire who galvanised the business community when it looked as though the Library would be sold and the Lancaster Foundation offered to step in and buy the building on behalf of the community; Councillor Terry Hill who I worked closely with for many hours researching and discussing the key arguments which formed the basis of the vital submissions put together by both the Borough Council and the Save Whalley Library Campaign as part of the consultation process; County Councillor Albert Atkinson who played a key role in encouraging the Civil Service of the necessity of the Government Minister conducting an investigatory appraisal of both the consultation process and the potential impact of the closure before it was too late and Nigel Evans MP who encouraged the then Minister responsible for Libraries, Rob Wilson MP to come to the Whalley on a fact finding visit. My proudest moment of the Campaign to keep the library open was when a small group sat in a meeting with the Minister which took place in Whalley Old Grammar School vociferously arguing our case. It was the only instance in the entire history of the 1964 Public Libraries And Museums Act when a Government Minister has carried out an Investigatory Visit in relation to a single public library. As Rob Wilson said during the meeting, “You can all be justifiably proud of yourselves today. I decided to come today because I recognised both the strength of public feeling and the validity of the arguments you put forward in the documents that were submitted to me by you.” Once again thank you all.