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Oli Scarff / Getty Images, file
A woman looks through donated books which are available for free loan outside Kensal Rise library in London, England.
LONDON -- A British library opened more than a century ago by one of America’s greatest writers is being closed because of austerity budget cuts.
Kensal Rise public library, in north-west London, was unveiled in 1900 by Mark Twain while he was living in the city.
He donated five of his own works to its initial collection, which had been established in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
But 112 years later -- and days away from the Diamond Jubilee of Victoria's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II -- the library is facing its end as part of spending cuts by the local council.
Oli Scarff / Getty Images, file
Protest posters on Kensal Rise library in London, England.
It has been locked up and unused for more than a year. Workers for Brent Council attempted to clear out the remaining books on Wednesday but were met with resistance from local campaigners.
Since the closure was announced, a group of activists has called for it to be saved, enlisting modern British literary figures such as Alan Bennett to their cause.
For the activists, the library is a piece of history worth holding on to but the council says the number of users is too low to justify keeping it open.
It is one of six libraries closed in the area, representing a 50 percent cut in services. The council says it has used some of the savings to support a remaining library within a civic center that is more popular.
The building was donated to the community by Oxford University’s All Souls College through an Act of Parliament. Under that law, the facility can only be used by the council as a free library. The library’s closure means ownership will pass automatically back to the college.
A spokesman for All Souls told msnbc.com: "This is not something we engineered, this is not something we ever contemplated happening and we regret what is happening."
Campaigner Margaret Bailey expressed anger at the closure and pledged to continue the fight, praising "the support of the local community."
The protesters have set up a small free-loan library outside to distribute books to the community.
Bailey hopes to present a proposal to the college to establish a private volunteer-run library at the site.
The council has suspended its closure plans the removal of books in order to consult further with the campaigners. But for now the books will stay in their boxes and the library will remain closed.
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This is a reflection of the world in which we live. However, no public funds should be used to save it. If the public does not wish to support it, it should be closed and saved for the future, when, hopefully, the world will have regained its senses. The reading public should donate funds to store his works but the government should not. The dopes don't deserve it and the smarts will find a way to preserve the works of Mark Twain, a man of intelligence in a time he felt did not "get" him.
When a nation is in decline, culture is the first thing to go. After the arts are gone, nothing is important, it is the only thing that seperates us from the dark ages.
I guess Twain would write about the Pudd'n Head President who wages wars not declared by the Pudd'n head Congress that are not ruled unconstitutional by the Pudd'n Head Supreme court which causes Twains library to close to pay for all of these wars.