Libraries are under threat and there has been a huge outcry against cuts and closures that span the whole of the United Kingdom. And rightly so. Libraries are precious and should be placed under a protection order.
You will all have read or written many articles and blogs about the intrinsic importance of libraries and what they mean and what they provide for the individual, for children, for adults, for the disadvantaged, for society in general.
This is what they meant to me when I was a child.
I came to live in England with my parents when I was 11 months old. My father was an educated man – he spoke and wrote Hindi, Urdu and English, but was forced to leave school much earlier than he would have liked in order to help his parents. My mother never went to school. She was put to work when very young and although all her younger sisters went to school, she missed her chance and by twelve it was too late for her. She speaks only Punjabi, but can understand some Hindi, mainly learnt from films. She was brought up in a village, so as a child her experiences were limited, her knowledge of the world severely restricted.
My parents worked very hard. Our family grew, and we were raised in a very traditional environment. We had to work hard at school and at home. And we weren’t allowed to go out at all. Except to one place – the library.
Both my parents were in complete agreement about this. My father because he wanted us to do well, excel in school and in our studies, make something of ourselves. Even though he was in many respects a traditional Punjabi man, he never considered himself saddled with five daughters. He expected as much from us as if we were boys. And my mother because of her reverence for books. She couldn’t read them herself, but for her they were the source of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, and therefore the means to escape from poverty and derision. She held them in awe and respect. We were never allowed to put books on the floor, or anywhere they might get damaged.
We couldn’t afford to buy any books. So we joined our local library.
Wycombe Library - the grand opening in 1932!
.jpg?picon=1806)
By: Leila,
on 2/25/2011
Blog: An Awfully Big Blog Adventure (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Libraries, Library cuts, Leila Rasheed, Library Campaign, Shamila Akhtar, Add a tag
Today’s blog post is not by a writer. It is by someone much more important: a reader.
The reader is a lady named Shamila Akhtar, who has started a petition to keep her local library - Pleck Library in Walsall - open. I quote from the Pleck residents’ group website: ‘Pleck is recognised as the most deprived area in the borough of Walsall.’ Walsall itself is in the West Midlands, my home region and one of the areas hardest hit by spending cuts. If a library is needed anywhere, surely it is needed here.
I am proud to introduce Shamila as a guest blogger:
- Leila Rasheed
WHAT MY LIBRARY MEANS TO ME
by Shamila Akhtar
Everyone's talking about why their library should stay open. It's such a turmoil of emotion, every single library is special to the people who use it. In Walsall, 6 of 16 libraries will close. It's awful - I feel like the small libraries are competing against each other to survive. Like we’re in a slaughter house and all jostling to stay at the back and not get picked. What a sad situation!! Every single library should be left alone.
What is it about that these buildings and the resources within that's turning people like me into campaigners? I'm a person who is not the politician, the local councillor or even the vicar who posed for our Press Event photo. I am a little shy, timid in approaching the writing elite to ask for their support. How will I come across? What will I say?
Perhaps I can share some of the magic moments the library creates, delivers, facilitates.
I have seen a father sitting there on a tiny chair reading to his boy, speaking not so well English but he was there and he was trying. His son gets his undivided attention, they get special time together.
I have turned the final page of a book we borrowed from there, to have a crocodile pop up. The boys want me to make him snap at their fingers, we protect the book so baby does not damage th
I have had contact with some of the younger members of a small, closed religious sect in our community. The reading of fiction is not permitted, apart from what is on the school curriculum. Television and radio are not permitted. Computers are not permitted except to access a library catalogue or (on rare occasions) to search for factual information that cannot be found elsewhere. Marriage is only allowed within the sect and by approval of the elders. It is a very narrow existence. For some of these children our local library is a lifeline, just as it was for you.
Any government or council considering closing or cutting back on services needs to be made aware of these things!
What a lovely post! I'm from a traditional British background, and the library was very important to me as a child, but it wasn't a bridge to a different culture and way of thinking as it was for you. How inspiring - thank you.
That's a wonderful post, Savita. Libraries mean so much to many of us--they cross all divides and bring people together. That's why we MUST fight to keep them.
Catdownunder - And I thought my childhood was restricted! Television was a no-no for us too, but the library was our saviour!
Stroppy Author and Lucy - thank you. Yes it was a bridge, and we all know what happens when they get burnt!
Thankyou Savita - an inspiring and through-provoking post.