LOVE YOUR LIBRARY!

February 7th is National Libraries Day… and the first day of week-long celebration of libraries and reading! Here's why we should celebrate our libraries…

Libraries are FREE… all those books, on all kinds of subjects, are yours for the choosing. And you get to keep them for a few weeks, too!

Libraries are warm, welcoming and friendly… and they have computers, too!

Librarians are the original 'search engine'. OK, Google may bring you lots of answers to your question, but a librarian will find you the RIGHT answer. Try asking a librarian for help next time you have a school project - you'll be given all kinds of awesome information!

Libraries are for everybody… rich and poor, old and young, absolute beginner or total boffin. And in a library, we are all equal.

Libraries aren't just full of books,they are full of magic.

Libraries hold our history, our culture, our wisdom and learning and creativity. If you have a problem, the chances are you can find the answer in a library.

Libraries are about MORE than just books… many run classes and groups, art exhibitions, community events, gig nights, youth groups and much, much more. Some even have cafes… how cool?

So far, so awesome… BUT… libraries are under threat. More than 300 have been closed in the last few years, left to become derelict or sold off by the councils who are supposed to protect them. These much-loved libraries are NOT closing because we don't use them but because the government wants to save money, and doesn't care where those savings come from. I have been involved in several protests and campaigns to save libraries all around the UK, and I will go on speaking out for libraries because I cannot bear to think of a world without them. That would be a world where only the rich and privileged have access to books and learning; where ordinary children have their hopes and dreams taken away from them; where the doors of opportunity are slammed shut in our faces. In a world without libraries, I could never have discovered the magic of reading as a child, nor dared to dream big and follow my dreams to become an author.

Libraries belong to US… let's use them, enjoy them, make them cool and awesome and uncloseable. Let me give you a challenge; if you don't have a library ticket for your local library, get one this week… and find out what magic your library can work for YOU!

Read more about what Cathy has to say about libraries here: http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/2015/02/libraries-belong-to-us-by-author-cathy-cassidy-for-national-libraries-day/

Cathy says:
Do YOU use your local library? Or have the libraries in your area been closed, or had their opening times reduced so it's no longer possible to visit? COMMENT BELOW to tell me more...