Shirley Burnham of The Library Campaign, Swindon, said: "The minister, Ed Vaizey, was vociferous in defence of libraries when in opposition.
I well remember her passionate speech in defence of libraries at a conference a few years ago.
Despite this, I wasn't as enthusiastic as many about Philip Pullman's call to arms in defence of libraries against funding cuts.
Librarians across the nation sprang to the defence of libraries, saying they offer services that a private company like Amazon could not hope to match.
All of the rules have changed … they are just making it up as they go along". Gaiman said reading fiction was one of the most important things people can do and he was passionate in his defence of libraries, the closure of which was stealing from the future, he said.
The top 10 most read: 1. the 100 greatest novels of all time 2. Neil Gaiman in defence of libraries and reading 3. Steven Poole's roundup of management-speak at its worst 4. Zoe Williams interviews What Do Women Want author Daniel Bergner 5. Jonathan Franzen on all that's wrong with the modern world 6.
Its fondness for leathery bindings and its fussy annoyance about the 'evil white scabs' of price-stickers slimily glued to book jackets soon give way to a crusading defence of the library as a mental sanctuary, a repository of memory, the only kind of home that has any emotional value for Manguel the deracinated cosmopolitan.
This spirit of positivity continues with Neil Gaiman, whose impassioned defence of novels, libraries and reading comes in at number two.
Smith's book that, in inferior hands, could have been a worthy bore, is a brilliant, comprehensive, unpredictable defence of public libraries.
Feelings are running high, with Philip Pullman's impassioned speech in defence of the public library service, originally made at an Oxfordshire campaign meeting and later posted online, picking up tens of thousands of readers and a huge response.
