YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT TILL IT'S GONE

AUSTERITY AND THE ASSAULT ON THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE 


Public libraries are beacons, they shine a light on the kind of society we live in; free for all to use, uncensored and open, warm places in which to read, research or just indulge in the sheer serendipity of dipping into books you would not buy but which turn out to be full of surprising insights or stimulating prose.
The Joy of Serendipity 
All civilised societies value literacy and learning, value books and engagement with books. Of course we now live in an age when information is much more readily available and books can be read on electronic devices capable of storing thousands of titles. However libraries have pretty much risen to the challenges of new technology, indeed the library is sometimes the only place where some people can gain access to the internet. But there are also the children’s sections in libraries, few things being more heartening than watching children discover books. And then there are the reading groups and the areas set aside for the silence required for intense study, whether for A Levels or PHD’s.

However now that the money men are in charge, the blinkered and mean spirited who know the price of everything and the value of nothing our library services are being decimated. In some areas libraries are being asked to ‘generate income’ and consequently the number free services have declined. Whilst library closures have meant the loss of a valuable community resource and information centre. The loss of a library can be even more damaging to the elderly or disabled as a post office or available cashpoint machine. For a fuller picture Unison have provided a well-researched paper which also highlights some of the hidden costs of dismantling library services.

Some fightback is taking place, as in Shropshire where the council has sought to uncouple itself from the provision of library services altogether and palm them of to ‘community groups.’
Well as they say, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’ If the destruction of library services, along with community swimming pools, playing fields, youth provision and other community services continues we will be entering a new age of communal poverty, of private wealth and public poverty. It is not the likes of myself who will be most damaged by this development but my nephews and nieces and their children.
Meanwhile if you haven’t been in a public library for a while pop into one today, you’ll find it changed and very probably under threat; still you might be surprised and find yourself being hooked by a book that otherwise you never would have encountered.
For more information on the campaign for public library provision visit :-http://www.librarycampaign.com/


Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more