public libraries
open, free civic spaces where
everyone’s welcome
“Public libraries are particularly vulnerable during this kind of disorder as they are often in prominent locations and are, rightly, easily accessible. Yet they are also symbolic of community safety and cohesion – open and free civic spaces where everyone is welcome.”
Ed Jewell, the president of Libraries Connected – which represents library services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – as quoted in the article, Liverpool library torched by far-right rioters raises repair funds Ella Creamer in The Guardian.
Not much makes me feel worse inside than a paragraph like this one:
Police said when firefighters arrived at the library, the rioters attempted to stop them from getting to the fire to put it out. “They even threw a missile at the fire engine and broke the rear window of the cab”, said police in a statement. The library has suffered severe fire damage to its ground floor.
At least in the same article was the paragraphs that said:
A fundraising campaign has raised more than £120,000 to help repair a Liverpool library and community hub that suffered severe fire damage after being targeted by rioters on Saturday night.
The fundraising page had an initial target of £500 but has gone on to raise more than £120,000 in two days, from more than 6,000 donations.
“I never imagined that the fundraiser would spread and far and wide as it has,” said McCormick, who is now liaising with the council and library management. “I’m so overwhelmed with the response and the sense of community”.
The sense of community.
Say it again outloud.
The sense of community …
Pull down your buildings and your freeways and your public arenas and you will build them again.
Pull down your libraries, and grass will grow in city streets.
(Okay so William Jennings Bryan said that about farms but …)
No Haiku For You 