They are not alone; public libraries helped to make me what I am today. I briefly mentioned the key role that they played in my early life here; the recently-quoted endorsements have inspired me to cover the subject in more detail.
Libraries in my early life
Going to the library was a major part of life when I was growing up - just as going to school and going to the sweet shop were!
I did have some books of my own and I also used the school libraries, but this was not nearly enough for me: I always wanted more and better reading material.
I lived 'by chance' close to some very big public libraries as a child. I know that small buildings appear large to small children, but I revisited some of them and found them just as imposing now as they were then.
They gave me a never-ending supply of high quality books.
I saw libraries as treasure troves; the books on the shelves offered me escape, distraction, education and entertainment. They helped to fill some gaps in my life and gave me things I couldn’t get in the real world. They gave me far more information than I was getting at school or from the people in my life.
I joined the huge local library when my family moved to London. Even though it was very well stocked and I also found many good books in the school library, this still wasn’t enough to feed my insatiable appetite for food for my mind and fuel for my imagination.
I joined the huge local library when my family moved to London. Even though it was very well stocked and I also found many good books in the school library, this still wasn’t enough to feed my insatiable appetite for food for my mind and fuel for my imagination.
I soon joined another public library that I noticed on the way to and from school, mendaciously assuring them that I was not a member of any other library!
One of the librarians in this one told me that I could go down into the storage area and borrow whatever books I liked. I am still wondering why they gave me this privilege and if unseen influences were at work.
Educating myself from library books
As with many other primarily self-educated people, library books were my main source of information. They helped to educate me, both actively and passively.
For example, I selected non-fiction books that taught me much more about history and prominent people than I ever learned at school and I also absorbed a lot of background information just from reading historical novels.
The best-written books provided a passive course in the English language in that they contained correct grammar and spelling and it was possible to deduce the meaning of some words by seeing them used in context.
The best books available at the time
I was given access to the adult section at the age of 12 or so; this was because I had exhausted the children’s fiction and wanted something more challenging.
Much of my reading was undirected. I discovered many good authors just by browsing along the shelves. I would dip into a book and could immediately tell whether or not it was for me.
The people who selected the books for the public libraries I used did a very good job. Maybe they played safe and went for the classics and the most popular authors, but when I did some Internet research many years later I found that I had not missed many books and authors that I would have liked. I had the best of what was available at the time.Long live libraries!
I will never forget the debt that I owe to the libraries that I used in my most formative years.
Built in 1906 and now a listed London building, this was my main library for around five years:
