Library Love

According to a recent study going to the library makes us happy. Or rather a happiness money can't buy. How much money? Happiness equivalent to a £1,359 pay rise. A least that's the results of a recent study commissioned by Britain's Department of Culture, Media & Sport. They wanted to know which activities have positive impact on people's wellbeing. 

Another study shows that libraries make help create stronger communities. They are places to socialise, places to learn, and they are often physically in the heart of a community. 

With eBooks and the internet gaining in popularity libraries are taking a hit. But we need to remember what they bring to our communities. A place to gather, learn, connect with events and people in out communities. Libraries don't just have fiction and non-fiction books, they have noticeboards, guest speakers, and helpful librarians. 

Librarians you say, but those ladies are scary. So not true. Not only are not all librarians women, they are certainly not scary, they are people who love books and love knowledge and they want to share that with other. Don't believe me, here's a list of 9 reasons librarians are great. 

Photo: Jesse Fox: Music librarian Steven Kemple

 So the question you need to ask yourself is...have you visited you local library lately?

This blog post sound a bit biased? Well, it would, written by an ex-librarian romance writer bookworm   :)

Fun Library videos

As an (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) honorary week for libraries and the librarians therein, I've be posting one video each day this week this is the last - enjoy them all.

I ummm and ahhhedabout my last choice, but this montage seemed the perfect way to end the week :)

Fun Library videos

As an (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) honorary week for libraries and the librarians therein, I'll be posting one video each day this week - enjoy them all.

Mr Bean at the library

Fun Library Videos

As an (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) honorary week for libraries and the librarians therein, I'll be posting one video each day this week - enjoy them all.

The Kickass Librarian

Fun Library videos

As an (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) honorary week for libraries and the librarians therein, I'll be posting one video each day this week.

Fry and Laurie - The Patriotic Librarian (1989)

Fun library videos

Last week I posted a librarian workout video. After the post my fingers went walking through YouTube and found more librarian videos. As I was watching them I couldn't help wondering what going to happen to libraries as we move more & more into the digital age. I know a lot of libraries have eBook lending sites, but growing up there I always enjoyed going to the library, browsing the shelves, the feeling of being in a place where books & learning were valued. I also wondered not just about the libraries but about the librarians, once things go digital what happens to the people. You can't just wonder over to the reference desk & ask someone to help you find what you need. I guess Google does that now...

As an (admittedly tongue in cheek) honorary week for libraries and the librarians therein, I'll be posting one video each day for the rest of the week. 

First: The Two Ronnies - The Confusing Library (1983)

Libraries

On January 20th author Philip Pullman spoke in defense of libraries. (Many of the libraries in his area are likely to close due to budget cuts).

I too, have always loved libraries. Loved them enough, in fact, that I worked as a librarian for a while. I love the magic of disappearing into other worlds. Growing up the library was the place that had all the doors, hidden between the pages of books just waiting for me to find them.

For that reason I thought I would include a section of his speech (too long to put the whole thing here, so follow the link for the rest)...

Philip Pullman: "I still remember the first library ticket I ever had. It must have been about 1957. My mother took me to the public library just off Battersea Park Road and enrolled me. I was thrilled. All those books, and I was allowed to borrow whichever I wanted! And I remember some of the first books I borrowed and fell in love with: the Moomin books by Tove Jansson; a French novel for children called A Hundred Million Francs; why did I like that? Why did I read it over and over again, and borrow it many times? I don’t know. But what a gift to give a child, this chance to discover that you can love a book and the characters in it, you can become their friend and share their adventures in your own imagination.

And the secrecy of it! The blessed privacy! No-one else can get in the way, no-one else can invade it, no-one else even knows what’s going on in that wonderful space that opens up between the reader and the book. That open democratic space full of thrills, full of excitement and fear, full of astonishment, where your own emotions and ideas are given back to you clarified, magnified, purified, valued. You’re a citizen of that great democratic space that opens up between you and the book. And the body that gave it to you is the public library. Can I possibly convey the magnitude of that gift?"

I too, have always loved libraries. Loved them enough, in fact, that I worked as a librarian for a while. I love the magic of disappearing into other worlds. Growing up the library was the place that had all the doors, hidden between the pages of books just waiting for me to find them.