A LIBRARY that faced closure two years ago is now the thriving heart of its community.

Ian Massey, 73, led a campaign to save Golborne Library when it was threatened with the axe in 2011 due to government cuts.

Now, people of all ages are using the library every week from toddlers to pensioners, to cross stitchers and scrabble players.

“Seeing the library now does make all the effort we went to worthwhile,” said Ian, a retired teacher.

“The campaign to save the library took up a lot of time and left me drained, but I am pleased everyone came together and I think we made the difference.”

Wigan Council was forced to close or move several libraries due to a shortfall in cash brought on by the Coalition’s reduction in spending.

Golborne’s library was saved after a campaign that was backed local shopkeepers, supermarkets and residents.

More than 4,000 people signed a petition that was sent to the council calling for it to be saved.

Ian, from Lowton, said he believed the community’s efforts made the difference.

“If you lie down people walk all over you, but we stood up and made a fuss,” he said.

Ian, who attends the library’s drawing and book clubs, said it was now full of people reading, learning and using the internet.

There are photography classes, story time for toddlers and computing for beginners.

Others simply use the library in Tanners Lane to access their emails or surf the internet.

It is the heart of the community, according to Ian, and somewhere that unites people of all ages from Golborne.

“It’s really the only place the community has to meet during the day,” he said.

“There are mothers and toddlers and pensioners who still use the library in the old fashioned way. If we hadn’t saved the place I don’t know where all these people would have gone to.”