Support your local library in style

Saturday, 05 February 2011

On Saturday 5 February, up to 8,000 people visited their branch library to celebrate it – or to save it. Throughout the country, 400 branch libraries are threatened with closure:- 11 out of 34 in Somerset; and about 18 in Gloucestershire. School students wrote poems and some are shown here.

Somerset Green Party pointed out that these cuts are not necessary but are ideologically based.

Bristol City Council say there will be no closures but they have spent over £0.5million on machines to issue books. BCC made savings last year by closing libraries in Avonmouth, Filwood, Lawrence Weston and St Pails plus the Outreach library services on Saturdays.

A map showing all libraries throughout South Bristol had been distributed earlier in the week which attracted some attention – especially from management.

Friends of Marksbury Road Library met at midday on Feb 5 and read books and poems. This generated the idea of encouraging school students to write and read out their own poems later in the year. Leaflets for the Bristol against the cuts march and rally on Saturday 19 February were given out.

Hands off our Libraries

I really like the library
It's got lots of books
I like them a lot,
They have lots of books on the shelves
And lots of sparkly DVD's and CD's,
I like the comics and Beast Quest and Yuck.
So if it closed down I would be bored
and sad
and annoyed
and angry.
I would walk up to my bedroom and slam myself in,
I would jump off the top of the Eiffel Tower
and fall on a Library Cutter.

by Louis Tebbutt (aged 8)

Good Things about Libraries

There are lots of good things about libraries.
If I was to list all the ways,
I would be here for days.

If you want somewhere to go libraries are the best but if you want to know the rest,
and read some books
go to the library and take a look.

There are libraries big and libraries small
There are libraries, libraries , libraries galore,
with books, CDs, DVDs computers and more.

When you go to a library you will see,
the best part however is that everything is FREE !!!!!
and they are for everyone, you, she, he, him, her and ME!!!!

by Bethan Risby (aged 14)

What will happen if we don’t save our libraries?

JIM
There once was a boy called Jim
Who asked the librarian
Can I take out a book that will teach me to cook
And the food must keep me quite thin

LIBRARIAN
I’m sorry i cannot help you
I’m really sorry it’s true
But the libraries all closed down
Because of people like you

JIM
What did i do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIBRARIAN
You didn’t help us by writing
You didn’t help us by chanting
If you'd helped us all by fighting
then reading would be a cruise.

by Joe T. (aged 11)

Voices for the library.org.uk

A sound becomes a syllable,
A syllable becomes a word,
A word becomes a book
Longing to be heard.
A child speaks the word,
Mouthing every sound,
The child seeks the book,
Will the book be found?
Will the book be in the library?
Will a library be in the town?
Will a van deliver riches
The child cannot put down?
Or will the child be halted
On paths which are not there
Which would’ve given wealth,
In books they cannot share?

by Chrissie Gittins