In Defence of Libraries
The other evening, my husband was regaling tales of a course he had attended that day about strategic thinking and decision making. Not the catchiest of titles and I was only partially listening, but my ears pricked up at his mention of libraries. Apparently, the course leader had scoffingly said that if you were to set up libraries from scratch today, you would definitely NOT do it in the current format. There are, he said, thousands of expensive old buildings, housing umpteen antiquated texts in most towns and cities across the country. Totally unsuited to the modern world and costing the public purse far too much. We should sell off all the buildings, he said, and move the whole system on-line.
His opinion was shocking to us both. But are we just old and nostalgic? We both remember visiting the library as children. In fact, I recall visiting the travelling library which came to the end of our road. The steps were steep and it was very high up, which probably reflects how small I was. I can so clearly see the cramped interior; smell the musty books packed onto the shelves which rose all the way up to the roof. While my mother browsed, I would go straight to the small children’s section and try to find adventure books, or stories about ponies. Anything featuring both was best. We also visited the big library in our local town. Acquiring that library card was probably the most important step in developing my love of reading. I must have borrowed every Enid Blyton in the collection, and loaned Black Beauty (adventure + ponies) multiple times. I loved our visits. It was my happy place.
When my own children were little, I took them to the library at least weekly to escape the house. They loved story-time and choosing books to take away with us. As improving readers, we signed up for the summer reading scheme at the library each year and at the end of the holidays they would proudly collect their certificates at school assemblies. At least until that became uncool.
But what about the future? Are libraries under-used and a waste of tax-payers money? Should they become an online only resource? The idea so incensed me that I was compelled to write this blog. I’m a huge fan of libraries and there are so many reasons why. I don’t know when the person leading my husband’s course last visited a library, but I would think not lately. It got me thinking that perhaps they are an untapped resource which could potentially offer even more to all our local communities.
So, firstly, and most obviously, libraries hold an enormous collection of print books. Far from being an antiquated and defunct format, the print book continues to be of enormous importance. Some books, particularly non-fiction, are too complex and detailed to be easily worked from in e-book form. Some are too expensive for the ordinary mortal to buy. Some people simply prefer to hold a book, fiction or non-fiction, in their hands (I am one of many, many people who would agree). Many can’t afford to buy books. Libraries ensure reading is available to everyone. And because authors receive a small amount each time a book is borrowed, it is an equitable system to all. Unlike the splashy media stories of enormous six or seven figure advances for celebrity authors or the handful of the most successful writers at the top of their game, the vast majority scrape by on less than the minimum wage and have to have other jobs to live.
Libraries also have other crucial functions. They provide, in non-COVID times of course, a place for people to work. Not everyone has quiet places at home to work and study. They are somewhere young mums can bring their children for story-time or simply to browse books. And it’s free. Most libraries also offer other important services such as reading groups and author visits, free or subsidised courses such as improving digital skills, retraining for a new career, or other such skills-based learning, as well as paid-for courses too.
But perhaps libraries could do even more. In the post-COVID world, they could become part of a much-needed, greater community resource. They could offer safe spaces for teens or young people to come and do supervised homework, or holiday study. Volunteers could help with improving literacy, language and study skills. There could form part of a wider programme of retraining or help with putting together job applications and CVs to those who need it. They could offer spaces for talks, lectures and self-improvement. They can provide even more help to older people who struggle with the new, confusing digital world. As much as possible these should be free or at minimal cost. Personally I would love to be able to volunteer to help in such a place. A library could be a real hub in the community, alongside other facilities such as youth-clubs, religious houses and community centres.
I do hope the powers-that-be can be broadminded enough to see that certain resources are too important and valuable to society to be written off for not being cost-effective. The benefits and value of libraries should transcend political thought or divide. Like the local school, pub, church, post office or sports centre, they are a vital part of our infrastructure. The nation as a whole would be a poorer one for sure if we were to lose them. And remember Beeching and his axing of the railway lines in the 1960’s? Once they are gone, we will never get them back.
And in a final little nod to my ten-year-old-self, my next book, The Hidden Child, to published later this year, features a pony named Dilly. She only plays a small part, but I think my younger self might be just a little pleased, and proud.
People Like Us will be published in the UK in paperback on 4th March 2021. I hope you will find a copy in a library near you. And if you don’t, do request it! Daughter of the Reich is available in many libraries in the US/Canada. And in a final little library note, I am also delighted to know that through the efforts of a devoted reader in Germany, People Like us is now held in the University Library in Frankfurt, the German National Library in Leipzig, as well as a number of public libraries around Germany.