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I think it is ironic that just yesterday I visited an exhibition celebrating the power and joy of children's books and on the same day was asked to be part of a local action team, preparing to object to the closure of our local library. Libraries are not just for books, they are for readings, discussions, writing events, DVDs and computers. The thought of such life affirming resources being withdrawn from the reach of children especially just makes my blood boil. As a child in Derby my local library literally opened the world to me. I read voraciously and there was no way that our very modest collection of books at home could have satisfied that hunger.
The Imperial War Museum's new exhibition 'Once upon a Wartime' delves into five war stories, exploring the themes of separation, danger, belonging and adventure. The stage setting for each of the stories really makes the fiction come alive. The drama and trauma of war are explored in a safe way so that chidren are protected from the absolute savagery of war that surely can be seen in other corners of the museum. I'm sure that those five books will already be selling like hotcakes and be much in demand at local libraries.
And children don't just access books in libraries - thousands of them rely every day on quiet library space and computer access for their homework that they simply can't do at home. I went to the Longford Lecture given by Martha Lane Fox last November and one of the many statistics she quoted was that of the 9 mill people in the UK who don't have computer access (many of their own free will), 4 mill (30%) live in deprived households, with the old, unemployed and families with children. Take local libraries away and we exclude a whole slice of the population from inspiration, support, learning and enjoyment.
So I shall be outside the Hanwell Library soon, helping to run an observational survey of users and preparing for the consultation pre-closure of a number of local Ealing libraries. If you're in the area, come along and borrow some books.
