Morpeth Library bucks the trend
T.S. Elliot is reported to have said, “The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have for the future of man”.
Libraries have been described as civilization’s memory banks and their existence can be traced back to Mesopotamia in the 7th century BCE. Of course, the history of public libraries in Britain doesn’t extend quite as far back into antiquity. In fact, they began to appear in the mid-19th century following the Public Libraries act of 1850. This looks like another example of what the Victorians did for us.
With that in mind, Curious Squirrel celebrates the opening of the new public library in Morpeth. The bringing together of a sports and leisure centre with a library is a great success. It has quickly become a valuable community hub. It’s a shame that the public toilet in the corner of the car park gone during the development, but that’s another story (see Curious Squirrel #8).
What a pity also that public libraries began to disappear across the country with the arrival of David Cameron and George Osborne in Downing Street in 2010. During the seemingly never-ending austerity years and the on-going squeeze in local authority budgets, nearly 800 public libraries have closed in England, Scotland and Wales. That represents a 20% cut to the total number.
The value of public libraries should not be underestimated[1]. As well as providing free access to books, they deliver digital literacy skills and employment skills, and contribute to building community resilience. Visits to libraries exceed the combined total of attendance at Premier League football matches, the cinema and the country’s top ten tourist attractions.
Morpeth may buck the trend when it comes to the destruction of public libraries, but we should all be aware that their closure elsewhere has disproportionately affected underprivileged children. The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read and give them access to books. Without the disposable income to buy books, many households depend on public libraries to give their children this opportunity. And the impact of inequality goes further. The shift to home-schooling during the pandemic revealed great disparities in internet access. Public libraries also provide this vital service.
So, I leave you with this thought from Alan Bennett: “Closing a public library is child abuse, really, because it hinders child development”.
[1] For an evaluation of the economic case for public libraries see ‘Libraries for living, and for living better’. This report is available to download from https://www.librariesconnected.org.uk/.