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


~

Progress

Well, Book 2 is well under way now, and have reached a decision regarding the length of the series... that I'll be reducing it from 5 books to 3.

Bit of a drop, you might say, but I think the overall plot will work better - and most importantly, may read better, split over 3 books overall. The only thing is that books 2 and 3 will consequently be a leetle more voluminous than book 1. (Those who know me well will know what a "leetle more" is likely to involve...!)

I've got to the stage in Book 2 where the decision needs to be made before I can seriously progress any further, and following a brief but rather interesting conversation with someone in the publishing world a couple of weeks ago, my decision has been made.

Of course, there's always a proviso, and if a certain prospective publisher reading this would prefer 5 books to 3 after all, then please note my decision is not legal and binding.

pic of crows courtesy beaconstreetusa_imagesCA1IFROL

Our Forests need us!

There's a petition to
save our forests
from being sold off from public ownership into private hands - please make your mark here:

http://38degrees.org.uk/

and tell all your friends.


Master Nalgah and all his woodland friends will thank you.



Photo of crows making a wonderfully raucous racket over our woodlands courtesy of www.tojo2000.com

Save Our Libraries

The Public Library Service Inquiry Campaign is a new group 'calling for an inquiry into the future of public library services in the United Kingdom. Within two months almost half the UK's libraries could be axed.
Aim 1: 100,000 members by 24 Jan 2011 to make government hear our call - that the cost of short term cuts now on our future competitiveness, knowledge and culture will be massive and our ability to meet the challenges of tomorrow irretrievably damaged. Please help - the future is now in our hands. Are you ready to hold on to it? And not let it go?'

And it isn't "just" books - I know, I know, "just" and "books" are a contradiction in terms - but it isn't "just" books we'll lose. Many people rely on their local libraries for internet access too.

Sign up and join the Public Library Service Inquiry Campaign on Facebook and tell all your book-lovin' library-lovin' literary-lovin' friends.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_171907272852321#!/home.php?sk=group_171907272852321

and after you've added yourself, JOIN their dedicated Facebook page too at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-Library-Service-Inquiry/139910396070378?v=wall

grrrrrrrrr

so teeth-grindingly angry and frustrated at libraries closing. Libraries CLOSING? Did we ever think we'd see the day?
And don't even get me started on cuts to social services. Front-line services won't be affected? Only if you're a banker.










pic courtesy of soyouseewhy.com