The Elaines: speaking up for local libraries

Friends and fellow UNISON members Elaine Brooks and Elaine Cotterell have worked in libraries all their lives. They travelled to London to defend their passion

“I can remember getting my first – what I thought of as ‘grown up’ book – out of the library. It was John Steinbeck, The Grapes Of Wrath, and I walked down the street being proud of having such a big book.”

Elaine Brooks has worked in libraries all her life, and so has her friend and fellow UNISON member Elaine Cotterell. Today – like the Joad family in the The Grapes Of Wrath – they’ve made a journey for the sake of improvement.

The Elaines have travelled from Lancashire to London to speak up for local libraries. There are currently 74 libraries in Lancashire County, but by the end of the year there will be 34. Only after a three-month consultation will they know which 40 libraries are to be closed.

The Elaines are campaigning against this because they know how important libraries are.

For Elaine B when she was younger the local library was a lifesaver for homework as she lived several miles away from school and couldn’t always use the library there.

Elaine C comes from a family of library workers, her mum worked in a library and now her niece does too. Now the women’s grandchildren and great nieces regularly use the local libraries, but they don’t know how long that will last.

And this is not just a Lancastrian problem. Across the UK libraries are in danger: over 100 libraries were shut down last year, and at least 441 have closed in the last five years.

With George Osborne planning to cut another £7bn of funding to local services over the next five years, this could be the end of the story for public libraries.

That’s why today many UNISON members, librarians, library campaigners, authors, and even a schoolboy who’d begged his teacher for the morning off, were in Westminster to ask their MPs to save libraries.

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The event was organised by UNISON with Speak Up For Libraries – a coalition of organisations and campaigners working to protect libraries and library staff. Several well-known authors – including Alan Gibbons, Cathy Cassidy and Dawn Finch – addressed the group of campaigners.

Author Philip Ardagh tickled the crowd when he told them that closing down a library is like sawing off a swordfish’s nose: pointless.

On a more serious note Dawn Finch explained that she came from a family that often had to decide between eating and heating; her local library was the reason she read at all, and it was somewhere warm to go.

All the authors spoke of their passion for libraries and not being able to achieve their dreams without their local library.

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A series of short films were shown depicting the impact of the lesser-known services libraries provide; a man talked of being able to get over his alcoholism because of a storytelling class his local library put on, and a woman told how the mental health services her library provides helped her with her agoraphobia.

A common theme was how important librarians were to all of their lives – and campaigners talked of how worried they are that these jobs are being cut. Since 2010, 18,028 library staff (or full time equivalent) have gone.

Elaine and Elaine will continue to campaign against cuts to libraries. They’re urging local people to contact their MPs too, and ironically Elaine C said she’s so busy campaigning these days that she only gets a chance to read books on holiday.

But at least if her campaign succeeds others will be able to read them.

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