Mr Nightingale (left) and the Mayor examine the petition forms at the town hall yesterday.

A month-long campaign to bring forward to this year the building of extensions to Burnley Central Library has resulted in a 10,000 names petition being handed to the Mayor of Burnley, Alderman D. Parkinson. Yesterday morning, 20th January 1972, the instigator of the campaign Mr H. Critchley Nightingale handed over the petition.

Currently the extensions are scheduled to go ahead in 1973-74 and the petitioners feel that continual deferment of the extensions has decreased the quality of the library, making the storage and selection of books difficult, uncomfortable and in some cases impossible. Burnley Town Council's Libraries and Arts Committee, at their meeting on Monday expressed amazement at public support for speeding up extensions. It was agreed unanimously that the issue should be given top priority and included in this year's estimates.