Initiial comment here. Whilst it is not the case that the primary role of libraries is to provide fiction- much less to support the poor publishers- the place of fiction is a good indicator of attitudes to books in general. Mr Ezra is wrong in asserting that fiction is of declining  importance. It’s a short step from [...]

Where America leads, it seems, we are bound to follow. I know it is a while since Tim Coates published and publicised Yinnon Ezra, board member of the MLA and head of leisure services in Hampshire, who publicly questioned the need for fiction in public libraries ''we have to ask whether fiction should remain in libraries when most people buy ...