Libraries change lives. They should be protected at all costs

Nikesh Shukla

Banksy is paying for libraries to be kept open in Bristol, but we should be funding this invaluable resource ourselves

Two things really annoyed me recently: 1) Banksy paid for Bristol libraries facing closure to be kept open and 2) some economics professor wrote a piece for Forbes magazine about how Amazonshould replace libraries with physical stores.

To clarify: I’m not annoyed at Banksy. It’s incredibly generous of the artist to continue to support local projects, initiatives and institutions in his home city despite being one of the most famous artists in the world. I really don’t think it’s Banksy’s responsibility, though. Banksy should not be putting his hand in his pocket to save libraries. No way.

Because of government cuts to local funding, councils are under immense pressure to save on spending. And there are core services that they need to provide. However, I believe that a library is a core service and should be protected at all costs.

Doughters got their library cards pretty much as soon as their births were registered. We visited rhyme time sessions, practised colouring in on various Gruffalo and Maisy activity sheets, sat on bean bags and read together on rainy days, and on sunny days when it was the coolest building around and we just needed to leave the house. The library provided us with a place to go.Libraries change lives. They are more than just big rooms with stacks of dusty books and a librarian shushing people. (I have never been shushed in a library. I have no idea where this stereotype came from.) Libraries provide so much to communities, from information and support, to free access to the internet, to entire worlds and universes contained in said dusty books. They are communal spaces and offer a basic level of support, community and knowledge that we should all have access to.

The library has given my daughters agency in what they read. They both get to scan the shelves, pick up any book they want, flick through it and ask to get it. Sometimes, we get bangers. Sometimes we get so-so books. We talk about the books and discuss what we liked and didn’t like. And when we return the books, we get to look for the things they’re both looking for.

I remember having the absolute pick of the library. I’ve written about how finding and devouring The Buddha of Suburbia changed my life. I remember also finding Adrian Mole, and guffawing in the corner, reading another 10 pages every time we came to the library. I remember picking up Crime and Punishment, because it had been mentioned in a Paul Zindel book I was too young to read, and taking it to the counter. I was about 10 or 11. The librarian must have laughed at this precocious, weird kid insisting that the thing they most wanted to read was not a Star Wars tie-in, or a comic, or Adrian Mole, but this Russian classic about guilt and existentialism (or at least I think that’s what it was about. I didn’t get very far. Returned it the next week. Got something else out. Probably another Paul Zindel teen drama).

Obviously, there are some places where cuts will mean libraries have shut and the nearest one isn’t hugely accessible. And I find that such a shame. Because I truly believe that access to a library is a basic right we should all have. And I would find it grotesque if libraries were replaced with a physical Amazon store. (Aside: maybe if Amazon paid fair taxes, libraries would be better funded and not at threat of closure.) And I also find it sad that the burden of saving the libraries of Bristol has fallen on a private individual, when it is down to our government (local/national/whoever) to provide us with access to such spaces.

Whether you use your library or not, the very fact it is there sends a message out to our communities. It says, this belongs to you. It is yours. Come in. Use it. Read. Apply for jobs. Have a cup of tea in one of the many support groups. Steal a nap at the back. This is your space. 

Source: www.theguardian.com