Library

 

Liberate the library

This is a book sanctuary – preserve it

A secular chapel where prayers are answered

Or held tight to, deep found meaning.

This is the repository of an everyman ‘reformation’

A democratisation of the enlightenment

Of the mind

Where meritocracy showed its first face

Dismantling of such freedom of information

Is nothing other than an anarchistic disclaimer

Of free information,

Culture..

 

This is an enclave – bolt-hole

Against the neo-anarchists of the state;

Books are the ‘voice’ of the people

Do not let them be silenced

Do not let them go gentle

Into that ‘good night’

When the anti-enlightenment

Decends

 

The book

Opuscule,

Enchiridion, ephemeris

The gift of the mind, the writer,

Essayist..spirit

Safe-haverned in this loculus..

Strong-hold, having its

Origins amongst arab scholars,

ancient Greeks, Babylonians..

 

Library

Where dreams are sown

In the fertile earth of

Careful silences,

Considered pauses

Quiet exactitude

Where lives can take on

New courses

Education lying here

In the hands of the free

The individual.

 

This is the heart of a British

Philanthropic social-

Cultural revolution

The place of a vital social contract

Between the ruler and the ruled

Social redistribution of

Cultural capital through

The act of visionaries

Social reformers

Good governance acknowledged

The centrality of ‘the book’

And the institution to home it:

Free at point of need

Open to all

Our right

Our entitlement

 

Our fight!

This  England–

Don’t silence the books

Keep open the library doors

Voice your rights

Your heritage

Your freedoms

 

 

Museums, Libraries & Archives

http://www.mla.gov.uk/what/policy_development/current_consultations/library_charter

The libraries charter extract:

 

1.  Individual libraries, large and small, need to be empowered and resourced to meet the specific needs

     of their local communities.

2.  Opening libraries at times when the community wants them open.

3.  Library collections, book stocks and other resources…need to be restored, maintained and made

     accessible…this means increased funding for new stock, replacement stock and giving the public

     access to special collections.

4. All public libraries should be attractive and dignified places to visit and in which to read and study.

    They need to be kept clean, safe and smart.

5. Books remain the focus for libraries, computers and technology can enhance users' experience.

    Internet-based services, available round the clock, add value for many users and should be extended

    and promoted.

6.  Service to the public should be of a high professional standard. All library staff should be skilled

     librarians in provision of the day to day service to readers.

7.  Collaboration between neighbouring authorities will make limited resources go further and sharing

      best practice… all libraries are better able to meet users' expectations.

8.  Accurate, meaningful and consistent reporting of library budgets and expenditure will encourage

     accountability and openness.

 

9.   Performance reporting should be timely accurate and clear.

10. Substantial genuine effort to build trust between councils, government bodies, library professionals

     and library users.

 

11. Savings from library closures will be tiny compared to the animosity generated among library

     users. Many library users belong to groups sometimes marginalized by society—the elderly, the

     unemployed, single-parent families—and the negative impact on these people's lives following

     library closures.

12.  Public library users call upon councils to commit themselves to achieving the aims of this charter.

 

 Library:

Roget’s Thesaurus

Everyman Edition, 1972

Set between Bibido and Librate

A book repository

 

O.E.D

A building or room containing books