June Webb, 65, treasurer of the Even Swindon Community Centre, home to the local public library, cannot understand why their facility is on the hitlist when computers were installed only a week ago.

The library moved from a temporary cabin into its present 'permanent' site less than a year ago.

"We know it's a done deal but we're going to fight it all the way," she vowed. "It means so much to such a lot of people, including children and pensioners in Rodbourne.

"We're having a meeting next Monday at 6.30pm to decide what action to take. It makes me mad when I see the council donates £26,000 to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra yet can't support Swindon's social life."

Running costs at Even Swindon and Gorse Hill equate to £3.69p more for each book loaned than at the most economic library in town, said Coun Justin Tomlinson, lead member for cultural services and recreation.

"Money saved from closing Even Swindon and Gorse Hill could be used, for example, to open the Central Library on Sundays," he argued.

"Nationally, the number of library users is falling five per cent a year, but in Swindon we're reversing the trend. In the past, libraries have mainly purchased hardbacks, but we're now going more for paperbacks they're cheaper and people prefer them because they're easier to carry.

"The busiest day at the North Swindon library part of the Wal-Mart shopping complex is Sunday and that is a strong pointer to the way we should be developing the service across the borough. People shop then pop in for a book or video.

"The new Bournemouth library is a wonderful experience, but the council can afford to open it only for a few hours on Saturday and not at all on Sunday.

"We can't afford another Steam not another liability.

"If we can dovetail with a developer it will be win, win all the way. We must not bankrupt the council nor the taxpayer."