When I was a kid I used the mobile library a lot. Every week I would be there like a shot. I loved it. Money was tight back then and so the library was vital. A library, you see, was my route to knowledge. Accessible, regular, free knowledge.

Last week saw Gloucestershire County Council unveil their new mobile library service in Saul. In Gloucestershire, the library service has changed beyond measure.

Libraries have been closed, the County Council’s decision has been questioned and the community has been up in arms. Initially, when cuts were announced, 10 libraries were earmarked to be closed in Gloucestershire.

With some 600 libraries axed throughout the UK, Gloucestershire County Council’s plans included shelving the mobile library service.

But then people spoke out. Campaign groups rallied and protested, horrified as they were that such a thing could happen. And so came a turnaround.

The new mobile library service in Saul signifies this. I welcome it. I welcome anything that keeps libraries alive, vital as they are to making sure we have access to facts, information, knowledge – all for free.

But, the trouble is, the new mobile library service is not enough. It is not enough because villages are being missed out. People from many areas are still without access to a decent library service and this is just wrong.

The counter argument of course is to encourage people to move, to get on a bus, in a car and get to a library in another area.

But my problem with that answer is this: it is not equal. The access to knowledge should be a right, not a privilege – and libraries are the pillars of knowledge. Take those pillars away and what are you left with? A dismantled system that creates inequality, that favours the fit, favours those better-off, those with internet access, independence, you name it.

If our county is to be successful, then sustaining knowledge for all is vital. Free, obtainable knowledge. Because this right, this absolutely essential part of life, is something our councils, our government have a duty to uphold. It’s what we vote them in to defend.

It boils down to this: everyone should have equal access to libraries. Young, old, rich, poor, rural, urban – we cannot grow without knowledge. And while I welcome the Saul mobile library, it’s time that was understood.