Book lovers never go to bed alone
This is disgraceful and should concern us all. According to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Britain’s libraries are in a scandalous state and urgent action is required from those responsible for the service to reverse the decline in visitors, lending figures and the fabric of the library estate.
Libraries are one of the things us Brits should be the most proud of. Public Libraries were established by the 1850 Public Libraries Act, though private and scholarly libraries were open to the public as far back as the fifteenth century. The movement to create public libraries began in 1840 with campaigning by the Liberal MP’s William Ewart and Joseph Brotherton along with Chartist Edward Edwards. Unsurprisingly the Conservative party of the day opposed them arguing that "people have too much knowledge already, it was much easier to manage them twenty years ago. The more education people get the more difficult they are to manage." I think many Conservative MPs today share this view. I wonder if Tony Bliar does also?
Libraries did much more than make the great works of literature available to the common man. It allowed them access to the pamphlets and writings from the progressive movements of the time such as the Chartists, the Fabians and the Suffragettes. Information is power. As Thomas Jefferson said “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Through these new sources of information people were not only better able to understand their own rights, they became confident enough to demand them. Even today, if you walk into a library you will see posters and magazines from campaigning groups. A library should be the first port of call for anyone wanting to spread a worthy or noble cause to a greater number of people.
But as important as those lofty aims is the simple fact that books can be expensive and access to them should not be dependent upon income. I don’t just mean the great and good literature, reference books and encyclopaedia, there’s no intellectual snobbery involved at all. I’d rather anyone read a Jackie Collins than watched Eastenders. Books not only broaden the mind, they can remove us from the tedium of our own lives by taking our imaginations on great journeys; they can inspire and provoke; amuse and enrage. A library should be seen as vital a part of a community as a Post Office, shop or pub. Visit yours.
Libraries are one of the things us Brits should be the most proud of. Public Libraries were established by the 1850 Public Libraries Act, though private and scholarly libraries were open to the public as far back as the fifteenth century. The movement to create public libraries began in 1840 with campaigning by the Liberal MP’s William Ewart and Joseph Brotherton along with Chartist Edward Edwards. Unsurprisingly the Conservative party of the day opposed them arguing that "people have too much knowledge already, it was much easier to manage them twenty years ago. The more education people get the more difficult they are to manage." I think many Conservative MPs today share this view. I wonder if Tony Bliar does also?
Libraries did much more than make the great works of literature available to the common man. It allowed them access to the pamphlets and writings from the progressive movements of the time such as the Chartists, the Fabians and the Suffragettes. Information is power. As Thomas Jefferson said “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Through these new sources of information people were not only better able to understand their own rights, they became confident enough to demand them. Even today, if you walk into a library you will see posters and magazines from campaigning groups. A library should be the first port of call for anyone wanting to spread a worthy or noble cause to a greater number of people.
But as important as those lofty aims is the simple fact that books can be expensive and access to them should not be dependent upon income. I don’t just mean the great and good literature, reference books and encyclopaedia, there’s no intellectual snobbery involved at all. I’d rather anyone read a Jackie Collins than watched Eastenders. Books not only broaden the mind, they can remove us from the tedium of our own lives by taking our imaginations on great journeys; they can inspire and provoke; amuse and enrage. A library should be seen as vital a part of a community as a Post Office, shop or pub. Visit yours.
posted by phylos @ 14:29
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