Love Our Library portest at Eye Library which has been threatened with closure. Hartismere High School pupil Grace Fraser (R) helping to collect signatures with Bernard Harrison and Vicky Uff.

All of Suffolk’s libraries are on course to be transferred to a new body next April after the county’s cabinet yesterday backed moves which should safeguard all 44 branches.

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The cabinet voted unanimously to set up an Industrial and Providential Society (IPS) which will take over the management of the libraries from April next year.

An IPS has tax advantages and will allow local communities to play a role in running libraries.

The council will finance 95pc of the cost of running local libraries, but the final 5pc should be raised locally.

Yesterday’s cabinet approval will have to be endorsed by the next full meeting of the county council on December 15.

The move has proved controversial – and before it was debated by the cabinet there were a series of questions from members of the public.

Abby Barker asked why the county was going ahead with the IPS option when 80pc of those who took part in a public consultation earlier this year expressed a wish for the service to be retained in-house.

Cabinet member with responsibility for the libraries Judy Terry said: “It (the consultation) led to a cabinet commitment to keep the full library network open and a comprehensive evaluation of three structural models, including the in-house option, leading to today’s recommendation.”