When I was little and wanted to know how to take care of a puppy, I went to the library. If I needed information on China, dolls or hamster habits, I went to the library.
Today, we all go to Google for snippets of information. Libraries are no longer the font of knowledge.
We all love libraries and want them saved, but they do have to change. Not everyone has the internet at home, and I'm happy to see most libraries offer online browsing.
But perhaps they could go further and, in light of last week's riots, become community hubs where people can come together and share information and ideas.
A few years ago, I launched an amateur dramatic group in a village that had become a bedroom community to Cambridge. A brief in the local paper was enough to bring in telephone calls from those interested, but meeting was tough - the local church wanted £20 for one night in their very cold hall. So I squeezed everyone into my house until we grew too big, and by then fundraising meant I could do a deal with a smaller church.
Libraries are about more than books. They are about people. Librarians know this, they are on the front line when it comes to communities and the knowledge they seek.
Many of us who praise libraries, no longer use them - it seems we buy our books (a great thing, no criticism there), but we do have to ask ourselves, 'What would take us back to the library?'
I'd love to hear a debate on libraries in the internet age and how they fit into the community - comments please!
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