On Tuesday morning, more than 100 people gathered to march on a cabinet meeting at Essex county council’s Chelmsford headquarters. In scorching heat, protesters turned out from Hullbridge and Benfleet, Hadleigh and Great Parndon and Tye Green. “I need books, not screens,” said the banner propped on a toddler’s buggy. “No to the library vandals!” read another.

The Conservative-run local authority first unveiled its plans for libraries late last year, saying it hoped to close 25 of Essex’s 74 branch libraries, handing 19 more to volunteers and 15 to partnership schemes. The people of Essex weren’t impressed and the following months saw hundreds march against the cuts throughout the county: 500 in Manningtree, 500 in Galleywood, 300 in Colchester, 300 in Shenfield, 1,000 in Chelmsford. Tens of thousands also signed petitions in protest and a public consultation drew 20,000 responses. Then, earlier this month, Essex executed a remarkable U-turn, announcing that no library would close in the next five years.

“Our Future Libraries strategy has changed drastically due to what the people of Essex told us. I am delighted that the consultation ignited such passion for keeping the service alive,” said councillor Susan Barker at the time.

But despite the promises, Essex is still marching. Now the focus has shifted to plans for handing an unspecified number of branches to volunteers, which campaign group Save Our Libraries Essex (SOLE) calls “stealth closures”. A widely adopted measure by councils facing swingeing cuts, such branches are no longer the local authority’s responsibility. Instead, they are put in the hands of unpaid, untrained members of the community who have to give up their own time to maintain regular opening hours.

Protester Andy Abbott said: “Essex is not really known as a hotbed of radicalism, and I think they probably thought people would take it lying down, I think they thought it would all go under the radar. It has really stunned them, the level of protest.

“If it wasn’t for our protests a third of Essex libraries would be closing in just a few weeks’ time. We prevented that from happening. But what they still have in place is a closure plan by stealth,” he said.

No details have been provided of how many branches would be handed to communities, but campaigners fear it will be a large proportion; Essex council has spoken of its ambition “to create the largest network of community-run libraries in the country”.

Liz Miles, who is coordinating campaigns, said: “This is why people are very angry. All we know is from the strategy document is that they have received 80 expressions of interest for about 39 libraries,” said “Neither has Essex county council acknowledged that the expressions of interest came largely from the draft survey, which threatened to close 44 libraries (25 of them in September) unless people came forward with offers of interest. We hope that most of these will be withdrawn, now we have been promised that there is no danger of closure.”

Chants of “No ifs, no buts, no Essex library cuts” accompanied Tuesday’s protest outside the council building, where a tense meeting saw the cabinet approve the plans to keep all libraries open for the next five years.

Essex council is offering groups who are interested in running a library £18,000 over three years, along with an initial donation of books, training and a regular refresh of reading materials. However, the groups would have to run them from premises owned by or paid for themselves.

Councillor Barker said the strategy would “ensure we have a service fit for a modern age”, but campaigners are not so sure. SOLE said: “Councillor Barker has always insisted every library is different with different needs. Where on earth have they plucked a figure that every ‘community library’ will need just £18,000 over the next three years as their startup package? Until every ‘community library’ is left to fend for itself? Libraries need library buildings and paid staff. Closing buildings and moving libraries into pubs - as suggested by one councillor - and sacking library staff and having libraries run by volunteers is not sustainable. Nor is having book stocks replenished by donation. It is a closure plan by stealth.”