TIMES of adversity bring out the best in people and the Government's prolonged austerity strategy has been met with great community spirit across the North-East.

Of course, there have been protests at the way the North-East has had to cope with a disproportionate share of public sector cuts, but there has also been an uprising of volunteer-led support.

In local authority areas across the region, there are glowing examples of people giving their time freely to maintain the arts and other "non-essential" services.

Today, North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to increase its libraries budget by £175,000 after more than 17,000 people voiced their opposition to plans to scale down the library service.

That is a very significant protest and it underlines the value placed on libraries. However, £175,000 will not go far across such a large county.

The county council has made it clear that the future of the service will depend on volunteers coming forward to help man libraries alongside the thinly-spread expert resources which can still be afforded.

It is a dilemma, of course, which is facing local authorities across the country and a hybrid community model appears to be the best solution in difficult circumstances.

Libraries are hugely important places – part of the fabric of our society – but they can no longer be taken for granted. Some will close, others will have reduced hours, and those lucky enough to have enough willing pairs of hands will survive relatively unaffected.

In the age of "passing the book", every one of those volunteers deserves huge thanks for keeping our libraries open.