A CHILDREN'S author who learned to love literature at Wilford Library has joined the campaign to save it.

Nottingham City Council has proposed to shut it to save money.

Libby Hamilton, 30, who was brought up in Wilford, went to the library as a child with mum Maggie and her sisters.

"I feel so sad at what is proposed," said Libby, the managing editor of Templar Publishing, based in Surrey.

"I read picture books and teenage novels from there. It was great to be able to go. We did not have to worry about money, you could follow whatever you wanted."

Libby, who went to Wilford Primary School and Nottingham High School for Girls, has edited countless children's books and written a number herself. They include pop-up titles for toddlers, The Pony Lovers' Handbook and stories aimed at teenagers.

"If I had to go to Nottingham city centre to use the library it would have been different," said Libby. "That would have been a day's trip.

"The librarians at Wilford knew us and encouraged us and kept an eye on us."

The city council initially proposed closing the library on March 31.

The move fits with the council's plan to run fewer, larger libraries with more facilities.

Under pressure from the Wilford Community Group, the city council has now agreed to delay closure for six months while the residents investigate taking on management themselves.

The council has agreed to consider providing support to the residents if they do.

Libby has been an active campaigner even though she has now moved away from the area. She has set up the Save the Wilford Library group on social networking site Facebook and was one of 800 people to sign a petition calling on the council to reconsider.

Her mother Maggie Hamilton, who still lives in Wilford, is also calling for the library to stay open.

She said: "Libby is an example of the value of the library. Libraries expand knowledge and imagination."

Lilian Greenwood, the Labour parliamentary candidate in Nottingham South, has been supporting the Wilford Community Group.

She said: "For me libraries are part of local communities and they are particularly important for families who can't afford to buy books and do not have a computer at home."

charles.walker@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk