tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post7809527563942355864..comments2024-02-20T07:57:47.756-08:00Comments on Carol Hedges: The Price of EverythingCarol Hedgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-52923669780076090232015-08-24T09:05:41.367-07:002015-08-24T09:05:41.367-07:00I couldn't live without my library..I couldn't live without my library.. Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18332613086771922320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-87787314088178935072015-08-20T11:29:50.884-07:002015-08-20T11:29:50.884-07:00Books have always been an important part of my lif...Books have always been an important part of my life and my love of them was carefully encouraged by my mother. This was in wartime and it wasn't easy to get hold of books except through the beloved library.<br /><br />The library played such an important part in my life then. Books were scarce during the war and for a widowed mother, very expensive. She was a regular visitor to our local library and there was always a pile of books for the family to enjoy.<br /><br />I can remember sitting in the air raid shelter, reading by candle light and letting the words block out the sound of the raid going on outside, a precious form of escapism.<br /><br />The feel of a book in your hands is very special and somehow comforting, you will never get that feeling from an electronic gadget although I must admit here, I do have a kindle and I do take it on holidays with me, it is so much lighter than a printed book.<br /><br />Before I moved to this area, I lived in a rural district and we were served by a mobile library and found it to be the centre for locals to meet and chat, it was an important part of our community.<br />Our libraries are such a valuable facility, to lose them would be a tragedy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />geowifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04185070839819821270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-50026035048128002152015-08-18T05:17:42.078-07:002015-08-18T05:17:42.078-07:00I think I was BORN one! How sad! My only story (we...I think I was BORN one! How sad! My only story (well, the one I remember vividly) was being sent into the Reading Room to sort out the Irish drunks who were fighting over The Irish Times because 'they'd never hit a woman'. Golden days....Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-38230209571594164272015-08-18T05:16:03.786-07:002015-08-18T05:16:03.786-07:00As I said above..it's the serendipitous aspect...As I said above..it's the serendipitous aspect that future generations will lose. Little G likes piling up the picture books and seeing what she can find. Don't get that with a Kindle...Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-26718696906808552732015-08-18T05:14:50.767-07:002015-08-18T05:14:50.767-07:00Thanks. Written with great sadness, though.Thanks. Written with great sadness, though.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-53122995240517077742015-08-18T05:14:26.199-07:002015-08-18T05:14:26.199-07:00It's the chance to 'browse' and actual...It's the chance to 'browse' and actually flick through a book. I do this so much when researching ..you may only find a paragraph or a sentence, but it gives colour and life to the story.Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-76108291040956513762015-08-18T04:57:18.480-07:002015-08-18T04:57:18.480-07:00I recently visited my mum who still lives in the s...I recently visited my mum who still lives in the same house that we grew up in. On every visit I walk past the splendid building that was our local library. We also had a 'big' library in the town centre (Burnley). The local library was such a blessing to me growing up. I loved the smell of the polish, the high counters, the Look and Learn magazines in glass(?) covers. I loved the rules and regulations and I loved the quiet. The reference library upstairs was a source of intrigue and I was too scared to go up there. Fast forward to the early nineties and I worked in the library at Leeds Art College. I witnessed first hand the library being expected to make space for, stock and run a shop selling art materials. We were expected to provide reception duties for the building. When they managed to make the caretaker redundant they expected library staff to look after the keys for all the rooms, handing them out to tutors etc. The computers started taking over. The library became nothing more than a social club for students who ate their lunch, listened to music and generally took over the asylum. I'll ever forget the student who came in to the library at 4.25 on a Friday afternoon, expecting to look for books and buy art supplies. I explained that we closed at 4.30 on a Friday and the computers had been shut down and the cash put away. She retorted "closing, but I've only just got up!" I think this was the moment I officially became a very grumpy old woman although I was only in my 40's at the time.Just_call_me_Verahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06519849728532894382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-78691802877489520362015-08-18T04:43:15.300-07:002015-08-18T04:43:15.300-07:00I suspect they will just disappear, because with t...I suspect they will just disappear, because with the advent of things like Kindle Unlimited and more and more people reading on electronic devices all the time, they maybe couldn't offer a cheap enough service to make it worth it; if you want cheap paperbacks, you can pick them up in second hand shops or car boot sales, for 50p, everywhere - my local fruit and veg shop sells some pretty good new-ish ones for £1, for charity! Alas, times change and things end, but yes, I think it's very sad. The library in our town has just been moved to a big new Council community centre, and is very swish, with lots more new computers in it - but the shelves look rather empty.... I will go in and see if they do a book donation thing. I too have lovely memories of a small one in Northampton, where I first went in 1964. :) The main one was fabulous, with a huge research department upstairs.Terry Tylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-58047988338442112322015-08-17T10:11:26.349-07:002015-08-17T10:11:26.349-07:00My favourite fifties library book was A Peek behin...My favourite fifties library book was A Peek behind the Scenes and I've been hooked ever since. Brilliant blog post, Carol!Guernsey Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10351729766544892085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-62173130472810284872015-08-16T10:45:42.005-07:002015-08-16T10:45:42.005-07:00It's only when they have gone that people will...It's only when they have gone that people will see what they have lost...apart from the rich people who never use them, so see them as meaningless adjunctsCarol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-72051754500472098442015-08-16T08:58:39.016-07:002015-08-16T08:58:39.016-07:00If only the government were as eager to cut the ex...If only the government were as eager to cut the expenses and other monetary bonuses it so generously affords itself rather than strive to sever the cultural artery that feeds our library service, our entire country would be a lot better off as a whole!<br /><br />The enforced decline of the library will not only affect people from a literary perspective, it will also remove from them the opportunity to experience all kinds of interactive events and arts programmes that these essential hubs of learning provide!<br /><br />Libraries encourage and uphold a sense of belonging. They bring communities together. They provide a social sanctuary for any and all. They make accessible to everyone that which would not so easily be obtained by some. And to think that on the whim of a lump of self-serving, governmental dullards, so many undeserving people will suffer, makes my temple throb with unprecedented rapidity!!<br /><br />Great post!! Lynn Gerrardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18061020895933480996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-54102802154852234052015-08-15T12:27:13.534-07:002015-08-15T12:27:13.534-07:00Carol, I too started my reading life in a library,...Carol, I too started my reading life in a library, and Orlando the marmalade cat was one of my favourites too. I loved going to the library every Saturday, and I am so saddened to hear about these closures. Thankfully, we still have plenty of public libraries here in NL, but I wonder for how long...this government is of a similar persuasion to the UK's. There are many many children here who only have access to books through school or the library and digital reading is just not the same as sitting with a mum/dad or grandparent and turning the pages of a book. It stimulates so much more than just the desire to read.Vallypeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08309284606572565277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-2739294193335221322015-08-15T01:30:20.671-07:002015-08-15T01:30:20.671-07:00And it has to be books, not ebooks!And it has to be books, not ebooks!Carol Hedgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359578624109905400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681775564258628407.post-27261821467751587022015-08-15T01:29:16.845-07:002015-08-15T01:29:16.845-07:00I think everyone making these decisions should be ...I think everyone making these decisions should be made to visit a country with no libraries - not because of a lack of literary-will, but simply because they can't afford them. They should witness the impact of lack of access to books - what it does to thinking, and aspirations, and imagination. And most of these people would do anything to have libraries - anything at all. <br /><br />And then the mighty of Birmingham etc might have some insight into what they are doing. Libraries are more than just books, they are the gateway to hope.JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.com