Why are libraries important?

Well, at risk of stating the bleedin obvious, libraries are at the heart of culture and learning and, above all, democrary. Libraries are there for everyone to use. If I hadn't grown up with access to local libraries and as many free books as I could eat, I would not have passed my O Levels, gone on to study A Levels, degree, and post-graduate study, and jobs in academia and the arts sector. And I would not have become a life-long reader and writer. It really is as simple as that.


As Alan Gibbons states in his open letter to DCMS ministers Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaizey:

As a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review 400 libraries are under threat. Compare this with the situation in South Korea where 180 new libraries are being built. South Korea is top of the PISA international rankings for competence in reading. In ten years the UK has fallen from seventh to twenty-fifth. This is no time to cut libraries.

We call on you to heed the view of the people. Libraries are a vital part of local communities. The National Literacy Trust has given evidence that visiting a library makes you twice as likely to be a good reader, the very foundation stone of academic and social achievement.

Which would we rather have? Or should I say, which of the following do we need? -

This?













or this?

The answer to the question is in what we do with these...

Campaign for the Book:

http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1563487899246&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=43030635058

Public Library Service Campaign page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-Library-Service-Inquiry/139910396070378

Within the next two weeks the number of public libraries in the UK could be cut drastically. The Government aren't listening.

Make them stop and listen:

STEP 1 –Stop and Help on Facebook - ask your friends to give Public Library Service Campaign a 'Like' for our Libraries on FB and suggest the link to as many friends on FB as possible - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-Library-Service-Inquiry/139910396070378  

STEP 2 – Everyone Get ready - - Give 52 seconds on You Tube ; give a 'Like' our Libraries again - AND THEN on You Tube please comment how a book or the library has made an impact on your life. Please Email this link to everyone in your address book and ask them to comment.

STEP 3: - There will be a ready, steady -GO ! and we all email Downing Street using their online form to nominate the Public Library Service Inquiry campaign for one of David Cameron's Big Society Awards. This is why Public Library Service Campaign are going for 100,000 likes on FB and You Tube - 100,000 is the number of people you used to need for a Downing Street e petition. The Government stopped those petitions before the cuts.

For more information about the Inquiry visit National Public Library Service Inquiry http://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-Library-Service-Inquiry/139910396070378


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