Councils in England are being told to save money because the banking crisis and the world recession have caused a large deficit.The present government is attacking our public services in a calcualted ideological manner to move as much as possible into the private sector. I am apposed to this and as a public service worker all my life I resent the way Cameron ,Clegg and the boys are trying to trash us!Many councillors think that libraries are an easy target for cuts because they have no idea of the cohesive effect they have in local society.
They house other agencies in some areas, for example Citizens Advice , Links To Learning and services to the housebound .Can a bookshop visit you and bring large print and audio books free?
I have worked in the Public Library Service all my working life except for a brief spell in a bookshop where I learned that profit was the main requirement.The library on the other hand was for enjoyment ,inspiration and education for all not just those who can pay. I have no problem with bookshops making money ,great and I love using them but the library is so much more. It is a meeting place and a hub!
Here we have the poetry group I started at my Library,a monthly meeting of poets and poetry lovers!
A craft day with children where they created with different media and Mums joined in!
Members of a reading group.
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The help desk. Reading the papers.  Something to grab you. I urge everyone to get out and save your local library,once it is gone it will not be reinstated ! Libraries are the universities of every man ,woman and child.They are magic for kids and essential for all of us. Sorry to be a bit soap boxy about this but I really believe that our puplic libraries which do books and so much more are a treasure we cannot afford to loose ! |
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I hear you and I really hope people protest loud and clear over this! Our library here has many fundraisers to keep it open and also has a book shop in the town, run by volunteers, which sells old library books and, with donations of books, CDs, magazines, etc., from the public, they are doing a roaring trade! All of the profits go to our library.
ReplyDeleteOh, such a passionate post! I agree with you - library was a greatest and my very best friend when I was a child in Slovakia and I frequented it several times a week. I recall nothing better hen getting lost in books.
ReplyDeleteAnd when I found myself to be the child of immigrants in Sweden, the first I did was to get a library card and send many hours in a beautiful old building reading and learning a new language.
To cut back on the contribution and support to libraries is not just tragic but very ignorant.
I love your library and all the pictures.
xoxo
Thanks for those comments,Zuzana many immigrants and foreign workers use the library to learn English and to use the internet to contact home. Your life needs to be a book!
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of that!!!!
Alaine,your library sounds lovely thanks for your ideas!
Hi, Angela! I was listening to this topic today on Radio 4 via the net radio and it is an outrage that so many places are, or are considering the close of libraries--a vital community service for so many. My husband & I use the library weekly, as we are avid readers, love to borrow music CDs and film DVDs from our local library. We'd go broke if we were to buy all we wanted to read or listen to...LOL! LOVED seeing the photos from your library. :o) Happy Day ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Tracy,glad you use and enjoy your library.You are rifgt I would go broke too!
ReplyDeleteDear Ange, Have you thought of doing a post about people's first experience of public libraries? I think it would be interesting to hear about what gets people hooked. I think my first time was Egham Library when I was about 3 and my mum took me and my brother in. I chose a book called Preep the Pigeon - he lived in Paris and everything was a little bit melancholy. Paul was only about one so I chose him a book called The Elephant and the Bad Baby. We read those books a lot and still remember them.
ReplyDeleteEmma I am going to do this on Truro Community Library Facebook but it would also be a good post for Brightstar!
ReplyDeleteIt is such a ridiculous idea! SOme of my fave memories as a child are walking into the local library with such an air of excitement, all those treasures to discover & read, worlds to dip into. How cruel to rob future generations of such treasures.
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