Are libraries coming to their final chapter?
UCL Main Library
Marisol Acuna argues for protection of our public libraries in the face of cuts and closures.
Walking into a library is a whole experience itself. The scent of old and new books, the overwhelming sight of shelves upon shelves, and the rewarding feeling of finally stumbling upon the right book are all part of it. Libraries hold the beginning, the journey, and the end destination of millions of stories, but I never thought we would be close to their own final chapter.
From 2010 to the end of last year, more than one quarter of the budget set aside for public libraries was cut, forcing nearly 700 libraries, approximately 18% of the total, to close across the UK. Today, it is estimated that a minimum of 577 libraries are run solely by volunteers. Since communities that don’t want to run their library must not want one, most have been given the option of taking over the responsibilities with volunteers working there or having it shut down. Unfortunately, this means some smaller towns that don’t have the funding or resources to keep a library open are left with no public space to hang out, check out books, or use a free computer. And that the ones left open no longer have the luxury of employing a librarian.
However, the ones that remain open, mask the true decline of public libraries. “[Closure numbers] would be double if volunteer libraries were not taken into account,” Ian Anstice has said, editor of Public Library News and a well known campaigner advocating for the life of public libraries.
To make matters worse, the Great School Libraries Campaign has found out that one in every eight schools doesn’t have a library. Even if there is a designated library space, primary and secondary schools are using the area as an extra classroom or teachers’ lounge instead of using it to give children an opportunity to explore the worlds beyond our own. This problem concentrates in socioeconomically deprived areas, making it even more difficult for these infants to grow up with literature in their life. If their parents can’t afford books and their schools don’t have libraries, how are they supposed to access the stories that help shape us at an early age? Are they even living a real childhood if they don’t dream of Neverland and fear Voldemort?
Stimulating the brain from an early age is the base to a child’s development. Reading is the key. When children are granted access to these stories at an early age, they develop a greater general knowledge, expand their vocabulary, and promote a faster rate of the right kind of brain stimulation. In a child’s brain, each cell is capable of “sprouting up to 20,000 different dendrites … [and] connections between them which store additional information while a child reads. In recent studies done by Teach Reading Early, it has been found that encouraging kids to explore the vast world of literature and teaching them to read early on has “neurological, educational, psychological, social, [and] linguistic advantages.” Before the age of six, “children learn at a much faster pace than at any other time in their lives.” Even though books can spark our imagination and give us role models to look up to, as well as instil morals in us by showing us the difference between right and wrong, this research proves that they do far more than that.
Having access to a library in school not only makes a child’s learning experience more enjoyable, it also has long term benefits that impact their social and educational lives. When reminiscing about my younger days, I remember reading these books and being fascinated by them. Back then, I was still reading as a reader instead of as a writer. I read for the story, for the characters, but through it all I read to find the happy endings that are always buried deep inside. The vast sense of relief I would get every time the Gollum fell to his death holding the ring or Harry finally killed our most feared villain is a feeling I still seek out in books today. And when I find it, it always brings me back to my middle school librarian Ms. Schubert and the first time she introduced me to the boy who lived. Every week, she helped me find a new series to indulge in, and throughout the years inspired me to begin writing my own short stories. This woman helped me open the doors to a new world that I still live in today, and children should still have the opportunity to have someone like her at their schools.
In an effort to better understand the importance of school libraries, and them in general, I decided to reach out to Ms. Schubert to see if she was still doing this for other kids in similar situations to mine. In the face of drastic library closures, I wanted to know what her take is on schools not having a library space for their students. “A library in a school is vital to a child's emotional and intellectual growth,” she said. Through books [children] can develop a sense of empathy for others, find themselves in the characters they read, and gain understanding for others in different circumstances.” She also told me about librarians not only being essential to the students, but how they also "collaborate with teachers, creating and implementing lessons, finding resources to support curriculum, and providing information literacy skills as students navigate research.”
Libraries should be ingrained into schools. Getting rid of them shouldn’t be an option. If thieves and murderers aren’t stripped of access to books while in prison why should children be deprived of them? Every inmate has the right to access a library because most prisons own one. In an article published by The Reading Agency it is stated “that books are essential to every prisoner's rehabilitation rather than a privilege to be earned. The capacity to read and enjoy books contributes to reducing re-offending and giving prisoners another chance in life.” Since around 48% of prisoners are estimated to have low literacy skills, it's vital that they try to develop their reading skills in jail and access to a library is important to this process. Therefore, it makes even more sense that libraries are crucial in schools. Having access to texts should be an educational right not a privilege they have to work for; and with higher literacy rates, children are less likely to take the wrong path in life.
Lastly, the importance of libraries is that they are for everyone. Whether it’s a child or an adult, a man or a woman, a doctor or a homeless man, libraries are always there. They provide the “crayons and paper, the computer and the printer and the fax and the workspace. [As well as,] the skilled assistance, and the heating, and the space, [and] the book on the illness, [and] the internet article on the mysterious bump,” writes Anstice. When I asked him what his thoughts were on this issue, he gave a simple answer: libraries open “up a world of books to everyone regardless of ability to pay.” Public libraries, school libraries, academic ones, it doesn’t matter. They are all the same because they provide the same purpose. Children need them to develop a sense of who they are, inmates need them to find themselves again, and the rest of us need them to continue on the path of self discovery and for access to greater knowledge. “The only thing you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library,” said Albert Einstein. But how are we supposed to find it, if it’s no longer there?
Through out time, libraries have always been there for us. Whether it be to provide comfort and warmth, friends through the characters, or access to free wifi, they never fail to do their job. So it’s only right we stand up for them. Libraries should be accessible to students and to prisoners. Why? Because they should be accessible to everyone.