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Phil Bradley found messages of individual responsibility and collective endeavour in posters from the first and second world wars

Guest blog: Ken Kutsch explains how the We Love Libraries video came to be and how there is no excuse to be apathetic It's amazing how time flies when you are involved with a protest campaign. I met fellow filmmaker Garfield Kennedy one month ago on 2 January in a restaurant in Glastonbury although it now feels like it was years ago. We spent several hours talking about our past film projects and by the end of the session, our protest film project, We Love Libraries , was born. Within a couple of days we had brought in Kevin Redpath who runs a progressive film production company in Glastonbury. We decided that we wanted to make a short film that would do the following: 1. Draw awareness to the campaign to save libraries in Somerset 2. Draw awareness to the campaign nationally 3. Encourage people across the country to join a local campaign and protest library closures 4. Encourage local and national politicians to wise up and listen to what the public's feelings are on the sub...

We would like you to help us build up a picture of the level of protest to save libraries across the UK on Saturday 5 February. Here's how to do it On Saturday 5 February, at least 80 events will be taking place across the UK as people protest against library closures . We would like you to help us build up a picture of the level of protest to save libraries across the UK. Give each protest that is taking place at a library near you a score for the intensity of its efforts (on a scale of 1-5 - see below) and we'll plot the results on this map . All you have to do is tweet your postcode and score with the hashtag #savelibraries eg NW10 3 #savelibraries or CV32 4 #savelibraries . If you don't use Twitter, you can enter the information using the form next to the map. We'll update the map regularly with your findings. What level of protest is taking place at your local library? 1) One person holding a "Sssh" sign 2) Several people have gathered to protest 3) An o...

Some 80 events nationwide scheduled in co-ordinated day of action against library closures Click here for an interactive map of all the scheduled events Author Philip Pullman has described the spontaneous surge of popular support for libraries threatened with closure by local authority cuts which will see Save Our Libraries Day protests taking place up and down the UK tomorrow, Saturday 5 February as "one of the first great shots across the bows of the cuts battleship". Pullman, author of the celebrated Northern Lights trilogy, compared the activism over the threatened library closures to the student protests over tuition fees, saying: "I hope it'll bring to the attention of even the thickest-headed local council member that there is a great deal more passionate feeling about libraries than they bargained for." At least 80 events will take place tomorrow, with a roster of notable authors coming out against the cuts, which now threaten more than 400 libraries ...

Sometimes science writers struggle to convey the magnitude of the thing that they are trying to explain. Carl Sagan fared better in that struggle than most as this book of his collected writings will attest Our next Science Book Club choice is Profiles of the Future by Arthur C Clarke which Tim will review on March 4 Nearly all organic molecules absorb infrared and ultraviolet light. If the planet's ambient light was confined to either, everything would be black. Plants absorb red and blue light, but reflect green, which explains the colour of foliage. Anthocyanin is the pigment of roses and violets. In acid, it turns red and in alkaline environments it reflects blue. Roses are red and violets are blue because their pH is different. Middle C is 263 Hertz, or 263 waves of atmospheric compression and attenuation every second, and even someone stone deaf could identify Middle C, at least with an amplifier and an oscilloscope. So ignore that question about the sound of a tree falling...

Some 80 events nationwide scheduled in co-ordinated day of action against library closures Click here for an interactive map of all the scheduled events Author Philip Pullman has described the spontaneous surge of popular support for libraries threatened with closure by local authority cuts which will see Save Our Libraries Day protests taking place up and down the UK tomorrow, Saturday 5 February as "one of the first great shots across the bows of the cuts battleship". Pullman, author of the celebrated Northern Lights trilogy, compared the activism over the threatened library closures to the student protests over tuition fees, saying: "I hope it'll bring to the attention of even the thickest-headed local council member that there is a great deal more passionate feeling about libraries than they bargained for." At least 80 events will take place tomorrow, with a roster of notable authors coming out against the cuts, which now threaten more than 400 libraries ...

These temples of learning have been under attack for years depleted of professionals and filled with council money-spinners I have been a member of my local library since I was four. I am still using the library card I was given when I first joined (its authenticity is proven by the fact that it is signed by my mum, not me), and it is probably the public service that I make the most use of. Despite this, I wasn't as enthusiastic as many about Philip Pullman's call to arms in defence of libraries against funding cuts. Last year I worked part-time in a small branch library, and what I found there was a service which, after a long process of erosion, no longer offers what many think our public libraries should. I worked alongside the most dedicated staff imaginable. They were keenly aware of the crucial role the library played as the hub of the local community, were on first-name terms with regulars and ran the parent and toddler groups with huge enthusiasm. We had no professio...