On Friday I walked with a leaden heart to a public meeting held at the local council offices regarding the potential closure of my local library. I had no hope that it would make any difference. I lost my faith in politics on a national scale many years ago, and on a local scale relatively recently when I saw how one of the mass supermarket chains systematically played the system and bullied local government into succumbing to its wishes.
I wasn’t going there with the hope of making any kind of difference whatsoever. I know these closures are all to do with money, and when that’s the case, the heart is hardened and ears are closed and no amount of grief will do anything about it.
But something still drove me to attend. A last spark of optimism? Perhaps. But I think it was also the knowledge that if I saw that library close without having tried to do something, I would never forgive myself. I wanted to see if there was any chance of action that would prevent it. I wanted to see if we were being given a false sense of having a say in it, whilst the decision had already been made.
Setting the scene
I want to give you a little background before I go on. I live in a small town called Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It’s a town on its knees. Twenty minutes down the road is a thriving tourist destination, the city of Wells with its grand Cathedral and bustling high street. Shepton feels like the town Somerset forgot.
At the top of the town is a huge commercial development that has sucked the life out of the high street. There has been little in the way of schemes or initiatives that have made any real impact on the state of the market place and its empty shops. There are shops there, don’t get me wrong, I use many of them. But there are so many empty, and such a feeling of urban decay too.
The library is the heart of the town. It draws 300 people a day to the market square (figure provided in that meeting). The only other amenities in the town, aside from a tragically small number of banks, are a post office and a tourist information centre. There is no job centre, no internet café, no bookshop (which also agonises me) and nobody willing, it seems, to invest in the town.
It is my belief, and of practically every person who attended that meeting, that if the library in Shepton Mallet closes, it will deal a death blow to the town centre.
So, back to the meeting
There was a palpable atmosphere upon arrival. Passions were high, people were being encouraged to sign the petition and fill out the questionnaire, both of which I’d already done at the library the week before. I later found out that 3000 other people had already signed too, and we need 5000 signatures to force a full debate at County Council level. It was standing room only by the time I got through to the chamber, and my heart was pounding in response to my instinct to fight. The feeling of hopelessness was burned away at the door when I saw and felt the presence of so many other people enraged by the proposal to close the library.
I watched a presentation by a councillor on how the numbers had been crunched on library usage to feed into the cut back plan. I could feel the roiling mass of resentment – both inside me and within the room – as we all waited for a chance to speak.
The deputy head of the County Council was there to listen and take our comments to the final meeting where the decision will be made. We had the opportunity to make our views heard, but rapidly I could see the chasm between us, the residents and those making the final decision.
Speaking the right language
I had to speak. I wanted to rail at the sheer disgust burning in my gut at how “they” proposed to deny free access to books and knowledge. I wanted to shake my fist and launch a searing attack against an administration who wanted to deny my child and all of the other children in this dying town the opportunity to discover the joy of books without the involvement of money. I wanted to yell that libraries are the last bastion of learning above consumerism.
But I realised that would be useless. They know this already. I doubt any of the people on that panel, on that night, forced into making cuts, forced into facing a room full of two hundred or so furious people, actually want to close our library. Expressing my emotions would only close them up, make them put up defensive walls between us. They are human beings, and when people are threatened, they defend, and closing their ears and hearts to us was the last thing I wanted.
So I thought about the presentation. I saw how much this decision was going to be affected by numbers. So when I had the opportunity to speak, I didn’t shout, I didn’t show the emotion I wanted to. I asked questions about how the data had been gathered, I questioned its accuracy and I asked when the final decision is going to be made and by whom.
I got some answers. My inner raging book-devouring dragon wasn’t sated, not even a tiny bit, but the cold, analytical brain that got me through difficult times in the past was feasting.
People made stirring statements that gave voice to our upset, and bonded us together. Never have I been in a room with so many people and felt one with them. It was one of the truly rare occasions in my life when I didn’t feel like I was on the outside looking in. Some asked questions that were devastating – one I wished I’d asked myself:
“Have you costed the death of a town?”
These are hard times
I’m not going to go into the reasons why it’s absolutely imperative to keep not just our library, but all libraries, open. That’s for a later post. Take it as read that I believe that with every strand of my book-woven body. But even in my passion, I can see that these are terrible, terrible times. These cuts are just one small part of the picture. There are cuts to care for the elderly, for the chronically ill, for countless other aspects of our society.
It is absolutely soul destroying when we’re told that the money left in the pot is being divided between vulnerable people and keeping a library open. And the sense of helplessness still pervades. There is nothing I can do about all the debt and the deficit and the need to save money. I’m just one person who can barely afford to keep my house and look after my family, but you know what, I am going to do something to protect my local library. That’s the one thing I feel qualified to defend, the one thing I know I am so passionate about that it will over-ride my fear of doing anything in public.
But really, what can we do?
I’ll write letters to the County Councillors (I already know the Town Council is 100% against the closure) and to my MP and to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government too. I’ll present the arguments on their terms, I’ll explain my concerns about the way the data has been gathered and used, I’ll draw attention to the impact of the closure on the town, and the impact on the hundreds of families in Shepton who, quite literally, depend upon the library to access the internet, look for work, not to mention the hugely successful reading schemes for our town’s children.
There have already been the most amazing efforts on the part of people in Shepton to fight this closure, and I will be getting in touch with people I met at the meeting to see what we can do together.
But it still won’t change the fact that the council doesn’t have enough money. And if it’s a choice between losing the library altogether, and stepping in ourselves, I would much rather we as a community try to find the financial shortfall for the library. I think it’s absurd to suggest that it could be run on a volunteer basis as librarians are highly trained individuals, and running a library is a complex exercise. I’ll swallow down the bile at the thought that access to books and trustworthy sources of knowledge are turning into a luxury, roll up my sleeves and do all I can to keep that library going.
Who’s with me?
Stirring post. I wish I could pop over and join your endeavor. Much good luck on your efforts.
I love my local library. When we moved I took the time to get to know the librarians and what a font of knowledge they turned out to be. They’ve also been so helpful with inter-library loans of books for a few of my research projects. The thought of losing them saddens me deeply. That we have a number of branch and a main library here is not the point; the elderly and infirm depend on having a local library. Thankfully, nothing has been mooted about closures here. Yet. I’ll be ready for them if they do though, I’m more than willing to get my hands dirty if it means saving my local library.
Good for you for going along. It does surely make a difference.
I read about this library shelf clearance campaign on twitter last week, might be worth a try?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12204369
This is a problem in many places, many towns and countries. I applaud your taking a stand with you community! Good luck, and best wishes for your town’s library.
The thing which annoys me about meetings like that is that those responsible for the decision aren’t even present. Even if they were, they wouldn’t care because their ideology is different.
Unlike you, I can’t ever be persuaded to turn up to such meetings, because to me they are an attempt to legitimize the closures by appearing to “consult” beforehand. Whereas I reject the idea of library closures because I reject the principles behind the cuts. The Conservatives do not – they embrace them.
So yes, I’ll mourn your library when it closes and maybe the fate of your town too. But make no mistake, it died at the ballot box last May.
Cracking post. I applaud your approach of keeping the cool analytical head. That point, “Have you costed the death of a town?” is excellent.
That petition you mentioned, I gather it’s a paper-based one? Would it be accurate to say that if the paper-based one was supplemented by an electronic one, which could be circulated on FB / Twitter, then the two could be combined?
http://www.ipetitions.com/
I know you’ll keep us posted.
It makes me sad and angry to read this and I am more than an ocean away. Libraries, in my opinion, are vital to the public good. Kudos to you for doing what’s right, even when the chips are stacked against you.
Oh, Em. I’d be absolutely devastated at the closure of our local library. It’s a lifesaver in so many ways and one I’d fight to keep open, too.
Good for you for keeping a cool analytical head during the meeting, and thanks for a truly heart-stirring post. Good luck in your efforts to save the Shepton Mallet library; I do hope they bear fruit.
The link that Joanna posted looks interesting and at least if that library closed they wouldn’t have to worry about disposing of the books!
Well, crikey, Shepton Mallet. My fiance is from the area, initially Shepton I believe, and her parents now live in Wells. I’m getting married in Priddy!
Anyway, my mother-in-law to be is Kathryn White, a children’s author. She’s been part of the campaign to keep the libraries open in the area and has spoken on BBC Somerset (?) and a couple of other radio shows. It’s incredible how many are being shut in the county – ridiculous.
I’m not sure who she’s working with on it or what their plans are, but you can find her through here if you want to know more or get in touch: http://www.kathrynwhite.net
Great post by the way!
My heart just breaks for you! I’ve been watching what’s been going on in the UK with the library cuts. Here in the US, libraries are also the first line-item cut until the people complain and give voice to their displeasure. As someone who works in a library, I applaud your activism and I hope that the UK finds a way to save their libraries.
Good luck to you all!
I am not altogether convinced that it is a straight choice between the vunnerable and libaries. Us oldies, disabled etc are carted out all the time as a means of making the rest of you shut up and feel guilty. There may be a shortage of money but there is also much waste in the system – grandious schemes- and bad housekeeping.
The old /poor /homeless / disabled / need those libaries in ways that the working person do not – we can’t afford to buy books / computers/ broadband / to the same extent when no income comes in. We need the warmth and compainionship these places over. The social life of book groups and extra sessions offered. Deprive the vunerable and the NHS will pick up the bill for increased depression due to withered social worlds.
Dont let them get away with that argument – somethings dont show their true value until they are gone – like post offices and the like – some things are not meant to turn a profit.
Hope you can salvage something – even a reduced service would be a victory in these finacial climes. Good luck.
I have to admit to reading this post with an air of guilt.
Nobody who enjoys reading wants to see their local library close, me included. But here’s where the guilt comes in, I haven’t been into a library since the mid 1990s.
I was lost to libraries when I first walked into a Waterstone’s and realised mass market books didn’t have to be consumed in an unwelcoming atmosphere in which you were the interloper, barely tolerated at best. Because that was my experience of Oxfordshire’s libraries as well as of the largest local book store, Blackwell’s. When I found a space full of books that wanted me to be there and welcomed my browsing with comfy armchairs I abandoned Oxford’s grey concrete library with its grumpy staff for good. I will no doubt collect an awful lot of flak for saying this, but the loss of our local Border’s store affected me far more than news of Oxford Central Library’s closure would.
Of course, neither of the libraries I was familiar with are as central to the community as Emma’s one. I doubt most Oxford shoppers even know the library is there and the airy 1960s pavilion in Bicester where I grew up is tucked away quite a walk from town. The passing of either would not have the same effect on their towns as would the passing of the Shepton library.
So I can understand Emma’s anguish at the potential loss to her community. I can feel upset at what is arguably an attack on the nation’s education and literacy. But I’m afraid I can’t help feeling a bit of a fraud doing so on the basis of memories alone.
Dear Emma,
Wonderful post. It really brought the atmopshere and strength of feeling out on the page. I don’t get too guilt ridden about the choice between closing libraries and caring for the elderly. Believe me, that’s not what is on the cards. It’s a wonderful emotional blackmail ploy by those cosy in their jobs, not wanting to feel the chill of personal cuts in their own budgets. The interview I gave today which may be on utube shortly, shows quite clearly the costing of a magazine title YOUR MENDIP that was posted through my and over 45,000 other letter boxes in the area this year. YOUR MENDIP, boasted the fact that it cost 30p per copy to produce. Between the production costs which, as it goes out in 2 trenches, cost the local taxpayer, 27,000 per year and the postal costs it tallies up to an unhealthy 45,0000 at least. Let me tell you what this magazine does: It lectures local residents on how to place things in their recycling bins, right colour, right bin. The title is: Slim your bin. It tells local residents to wear layers of clothes in the winter as opposed to one heavy outerwear garment. I’m not kidding, this insanity is for real. This cost us £27,000, plus staff time at the council who have nothing better to do than design this glossy, patronising dribble, heaven forbid that they may save on those worker hours and emply other staff such as carers to look after the elderly people the rest of the community are so concerned about. And we’re not even talking about full postage costs. The final pages of this peice of worthless literature was a questionnaire on how good residents feel about the offending magazine and if one lucky resident answers the questionnaire correctly they could win £100. Sorry, are we talking council here? Or some gambling assocation? I mean, what books I could buy for my local library with £100 and more importantly how many libraries could I keep running for £45,000, the magazine production and running costs. No it’s time to stop the mis-management of funds, toss out the wasters in our local authorities and start fighting for the right people to insure our council taxes are given the to priority spending. The homeless don’t benefit from these magazines, but they do benefit from libraries that house citizens advice centres. Tourists don’t benefit from these magazines they benefit from tourist advice in local libraries and I know that I, as a local resident only have more trash to recycle when YOUR MENDIP is shoved through my letterbox.
I hope your town can find a way to save the library! There has to be some kind of alternate method — maybe just closing for more holidays or certain weeks to cut costs? That’s what my library did here in Seattle. Or what about a fundraiser to raise money for the library? (Although I have no idea how much that would be!) It’s good to know that you’re not alone no matter what happens. This was such a good, well-written post, although the topic itself is so disheartening.
Someone wanted to sign the electronic petition? If you’re resident in Somerset go can go to http://savesomersetslibraries.wordpress.com/
You could also join in the Save Somersets Libraries Read-in next Saturday 22nd January. Join up with a friend or two. Go to your local library (especially if its under threat) at opening time. Take some poetry, short stories or whatever you fancy off the shelf. Sit down or stand up. Start reading aloud. When you’re getting a bit dry, hand over to a friend or someone listening who’s willing. Finish as the library closes or when you’re too hungry/thirsty/tired to keep going. Good luck!
I too was at the meeting, and felt that the strength of feeling expressed by the people of Shepton came over very powerfully.
Just a couple of points though, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau is alive and well and VERY ACTIVE in the Market Place in Shepton Mallet, and also you have got your councils muddled up! It is Somerset COUNTY Council who are responsible for Libraries, it is COUNTY Councillor John Osman who was present, and COUNTY COuncillors who will be making the decisions. ‘Your Mendip’, mentioned in a later comment, is produced by Mendip District Council, so is not relevant to this thread.
All thet said, PLEASE keep up the pressure!
Hello Emma
We are going for a shelf clearance, in Shepton, by Saturday of this week. It will only work if everyone who feels strongly, and lives in Somerset, turns up and takes out their maximum allowance of 20 books. And, if there are 3 people in your household that is obviously 60 books! It will take a reasonable number of people to achieve this but it won’t be impossible.
Can you circulate your contacts and ask them to start taking books out ASAP. I am vaguely luddite and don’t know how to tweet and no one would follow any way!
Hi, just in response to Chris’s comment re: Your Mendip magazine.
The fact remains that whether it’s funded out of local or central government, £45,000 on a piece of propoganda junk is not what we pay our council taxes for and we can ill afford it from the public purse. There was, a short while back a debate as to whether the public should get rid of Mendip District Council or Somerset County Council and as usual the questionnaire was cleverly delivered to confuse the public into neither being abolished. So we still have two massively over staffed and over funded offices to maintain. What a farce!
Re. the book clearance, I don’t think we should do this in fact. There seems now to be a general feeling that it has been done before, so is old news now, and also what about the staff?? We shouldn’t be asking them to be overwhelmed in this way, it’s not fair.
[...] couple of weeks ago I wrote about the local meeting I went to about the fate of my local library, and also wrote a rather furious open letter to the head of Somerset County [...]