The previously mentioned thread on a now closed forum about the value or otherwise of public libraries was created in 2016 by someone who had received a series of appeals to protest against the closure of his local public library. He thought that the protesters were making a fuss about nothing; I disagreed.
This is how it all started:
“I'm constantly receiving junk mail through my letterbox, informing me of protests to save the local library, which the district council has announced will be closed down. I'm completely apathetic towards the library; this is a small village and no one ever uses it. The situation is the same across the district: this is a rural district with no big towns, and the council have announced they're closing down several other small village libraries...”
He went on to say that public libraries are an outdated luxury and there are better options available. He alleged that people who protest against funding cuts and library closures are virtue-signalling, do-gooding, politically correct, lefty liberal middle-class Guardian readers acting out of pretended concern for 'the poor'!
I found an article that tells a very different story.
A protest against closures in Cornwall
Here is a cry from the heart from a retired Cornishman who used to run library services; it shows how essential public libraries are for some people:
“Cornwall's library service was a high performer at a low cost compared to almost every council service down here and library services elsewhere.
It will surprise no one that I am dismayed that two thirds of libraries in Cornwall are recommended for the chop. My dismay may not matter very much; it's much more important for the parent who wants books for her children.
It's much more important if, like my mother, you are losing your sight and won't find large print and audio books anywhere else.
It's much more important if you're one of the 800 housebound people in Cornwall waiting in vain for a volunteer to bring you books from the library.
If you're a suit in County Hall, yes, you can order a book from Amazon in your lunch hour to read on your Kindle.
Unfortunately they've forgotten or just plain don't know that for the 100,000 people who do use libraries in Cornwall mostly women, children and the elderly, they are a lifeline.
Many of your readers may disagree but closing libraries will be a disaster. You may not want libraries now but can you guarantee you won't get unemployed, lonely or disabled?”
The original article was on the Cornwall Live website; the link no longer works.
It was alarming to learn that two-thirds of Cornwall's libraries were in danger of being closed. They are even more of a lifeline now that many people are housebound because of the coronavirus restrictions.
Another, very different, case caught my attention at the time.
A protest against a library closure in Lambeth
It is not just remote and sparsely-populated rural areas that are affected by cuts in public spending and associated library closures: these things happen in big cities too.
The impressive Carnegie Library at Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth opened in 1906. It was closed as a public lending library in 2016 because of funding cuts.
Protesters occupied the library for nine days. They were members of the local community, including older people and teenagers studying for A-level exams. Over 2,000 people marched from the library to the town hall after the occupation ended.
Letters of support were sent by many well-known authors and illustrators including Neil Gaiman, a passionate defender of public libraries whose debt to them was mentioned in the first article in this series.
Andrew Carnegie wanted people with few options to use his libraries to better themselves. He would have been delighted with this tribute from another supporter:
“One of the signatories to the letter, the writer and theatre-maker Stella Duffy, who lives near the Carnegie, said: “If it wasn’t for libraries I wouldn’t be an author. I came from a family of seven kids, council estate in Woolwich. Libraries gave me my start in understanding that the world was bigger than my own family.” “
The Carnegie Library, Herne Hill re-opened in 2018 with reduced services. During the occupation:
