Residents Check Out Every Book To Keep Local Library Open

Residents of the British town of Milton Keynes aren't about to let their local library close without putting up a fight. According to the BBC, all 16-thousand books have been checked out of the Stony Stratford library in an attempt to keep the facility open. Emily Malleson helped organize the campaign, and says she calculated that books were checked out at a rate of 378 per hour. She states, quote, "I put it on Facebook and e-mailed everyone I could think of and it's just gone absolutely mad. I think it's a very simple but clever idea and it's given something that people can act on and make their voice heard." More than 500 people have joined the Facebook page dedicated to keeping the library open, while both written and online petitions have been started.