From the Stockholm Metro daily free newspaper, Friday 26 October 2012, p 28:
A number of libraries have been forced to close by the crisis in the
UK. But in the London borough of Barnet help has come from an unexpected
area.
It’s Ann’s first day at work, and a young man in dreadlocks is
instructing the retired police officer. “You only have to sort them into
groups, classics go over there”, he says.
This London library is being given a makeover; the walls are hung
with banners proclaiming “Revolution” and squatters are in charge of
services here.
The borough of Barnet closed the library down in September because of
the cuts, despite the local population having campaigned for eight
months to save their library. A few days later eight Occupy activists
climbed in through an open window; they discovered the heating was on,
and reopened the library. All books were gone, but local people have
donated 6,000 new books.
“I used to come here every day with my son; there are no other
libraries near here”, says Dorothy Nicholas, who was part of the
campaign to save the library. “When the squatters opened it up again
people were really grateful. And the choice of books is better now too”.
Margaret, a retired lady, has no problem with the squatters: “They’ve
done an excellent job and are lovely”, she states with a smile.
Mark Weaver, the new librarian, has been involved with Occupy for a
year. “This is what the Occupy movement should be doing, to support
local campaigns rather than spend their time on ideologies. We can
support these communities by offering a service, and have experiences of
confronting the authorities”.
Hundreds of libraries are being closed down in the crisis-laden UK,
and he hopes that they can help out in other places too. The group has
recently managed to ensure that the library will stay open until
Christmas, by winning in court against the local council. The future,
however, is far from certain. A spokesperson said: “The council is under
an obligation to look after its assets and will continue by all legal
means to try to evict the squatters”.
Kieron Monks
Metro World Wide
Translation kindly provided by Anne Lamming
No comments:
Post a Comment