Manic Street Preachers star Nicky Wire is fuming about the potential closure of public libraries in the U.K., branding it "a direct attack" on one of the few "truly remarkable" British institutions.
The bassist was saddened to read the country's government's plans to scrap book services in a bid to save cash, and he's penned a column for Britain's The Guardian backing a protest against the cuts.
Wire writes, "It's hard not to feel utterly despondent at the current plight of public libraries. Along with the NHS and the BBC, our libraries are some of the few truly remarkable British institutions left.
"So often absolutely ordinary in appearance, a good library should offer escape routes down the most extraordinary avenues, pathways into different worlds from the one you've left outside.
"Ridding our villages, towns and cities of libraries, which are essential in shaping a nation's consciousness, seems like a direct attack on the soul of the country."
Wire, whose track A Design For Life features the lyric 'Libraries gave us power', is convinced public libraries bring communities together and is urging officials to reconsider their decision.
He adds, "At the moment, it really does appear that the establishment is back in control of Britain. After 30 years of semi-pluralistic governance, the establishment is pushing hard its own agenda.
"One of the most amazing things about public libraries remains their utter classlessness. You don't have to have gone to Eton to make the most out of a library. They aren't inhabited by the kind of people currently damning them."