Libraries go considerably underappreciated within communities, a literally silent headquarters of leisure and learning for many. The unspoken services they provide to the people around them are at danger of extinction, as government spending cuts pose a threat.
For school-age teenagers, libraries associate themselves with exam periods, masses of revision and homework, and hours on end of sitting in a dimly lit room staring at CGP textbooks. However, they are much more than that, as I began to realise in my own GCSE exam period – I saw people from all walks of life come through the door of the libraries of my local area and began to acknowledge the amount they do for people who need it.
English speaking classes, once a week at Putney libraries. A sense of community between the attendees, who catch up on each other’s lives in a language that is somewhat new to them.
Rows of computers, free to use daily, providing internet access to those who do not have the means to access it in their homes.
Things like this, things we take for granted, enrich and aid the community of those living in the area, people who come daily and carry out menial tasks that we perhaps take for granted – endlessly scrolling through YouTube videos, being able to type an essay instead of write it by hand.
Libraries need to be protected. Help safeguard the people of your community by protecting their services. If you want to help – sign the petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/228742
