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/


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