Libraries - SHhhh

by YankeeJim | February 11, 2011 at 04:31 am

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Now, here is a story about a protest against closing libraries in Scotland. Closing libraries and cutting services is a topic as relevant in the USA as Scotland or anywhere I suspect.

If you go to a library in Arlington County Virginia on any day they are open and you will discover the same people sitting in the same comfortable chairs day after day, hour by hour. When they are not in their chosen chairs, they are in the public bathroom, grooming.

Homeless people live in shelters at night and libraries by day. They give to libraries a sort of fruity smell, if you know what I mean.

In the evening and on weekends, mothers and dads accompany their children on trips to the library. The homeless are still there, but the kids and families occupy a different section and with all of the gum chewing and such, the fruity odor is enhanced.

I am most grateful for ebooks and electronic library services. I can sit at home and sniff a bowl real fruit.

Writers stage a 'shhh-in' against coalition plans to close 450 libraries

Celebrities and leading authors lead protests over 'shameful' threat to cherished services

Authors at the Scottish parliament protest against planned cuts to library services. They included Julia Donaldson, pictured holding a petition with protest organiser Theresa Breslin. Photograph: Scott Taylor/www.universalnewsandsport.com

Protests against the planned closure of more than 450 library services were staged today. Library users, authors, parents and children took part in "read-ins" and demonstrations at libraries in south Yorkshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Oxfordshire, where 20 of the 43 libraries still running are earmarked for withdrawal of funds.

TV presenter Kirsty Young, musician Billy Bragg and literary stars such as Philip Pullman, Colin Dexter, Mark Haddon, Kate Mosse and Julia Donaldson were involved in Save Our Libraries events.

At Sheffield central library a mass "shhh-in" was organised by Library Workers for a Brighter Future. On the stroke of 11am, protesters joined in a chorus of "shhh" then cheered for their library, before taking out the maximum 15 books each on their tickets – the theory being that you cannot close down a library while most books are on loan. In Dorset, Bragg attended an event where library users also attempted to empty its shelves. A rally was staged outside Bolton's central library, and in Cambridge a "flashmob book reading" surprised the public outside the city's main library.”