This is a space for occasional articles by EFLUG members about our Library.
Letter to Councillor Robert Rams
Dear Mr Robert Rams My name’s Orli and I am 11 years old. I am writing a letter to you about your proposal to sell off and flog off Barnet Libraries. I know you have probably had tons of letters about this, but please read this letter- it’s different, from a child’s point of view which you haven’t heard yet. I’ll tell you a little about me. Every Saturday, and sometimes other days of the week I go to the library. Whether it’s East Finchley Library, Hendon Library or even Edgware Library, I have been to every single one. Yes, every single one. Because reading is my passion. Libraries are my life. I’m not going to drone on about how much I love reading, but I want you to know that this affects people- not just me. We love our libraries. Please, please don’t take them away from us. Every child, every adult, even you, have worries. Things that keep us awake at night, things that gnaw at our minds, and just don’t go away until they are partially solved. Books are a way of healing this-losing yourself in a book, forgetting troubles or being able to solve them using the book. Some people have not enough money to buy every book they wish, and children AND adults need books- developing their reading, helping them, setting up a career, an ambition perhaps, for children and their children and their children too. I heard about you saying that we should borrow books from Costa Coffee, but, think about this, what if people are not near enough to Costa Coffee? People rely on the quiet, calm atmosphere in the library to study, to read, and to be themselves without anyone saying they’re wrong. I aspire to be a writer, and I need these books to help me, to lose myself. Buying books is not an option- we NEED reading, you know that, with your ideas about Costa Coffee, and Tesco books. People don’t have as much money as you think- we can’t afford reading- you haven’t thought about that. It’s really important to read for SO many reasons, and now we won’t be able to. Please, please rethink this decision Mr Rams. Please. This is something I am so passionate about, I need this. We need this. Barnet Community need this. Need YOU to help us, so please rethink this. Think about others. The elderly- how can they read now? They care. I care. We care. Please care too. I have attached a petition, where children in my school, children who care about saving our libraries, and all my friends who care too have signed my petition. We love and cherish our libraries. Please don’t take them away from us. Orli Our Library Now and Then On the wall in the library a circular plaque above the photocopier records the opening on 1 March 1938. Life was, of course, rather different then.
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