Is there such a thing as a library-spotter? by Tracy Darnton

I'm not sure how it happened, but I have become a person who likes to visit other country's libraries and take pictures. 

If there's such a thing as a library-spotter, I appear to be it. 

Last month I shared my library photos on the dark academia theme, but I have been popping into some amazing modern ones while on holiday. 

So here are a few of my summer shots:

Helsingor (Elsinore) in North Zealand in Denmark is a very lovely town, home to the castle of Hamlet fame. I wish towns of a similar size in the UK had our own equivalent of The Culture Yard and a striking public library. The kids' floor was brilliant; full of imaginative play and reading spaces. 

Sneaking in an old library here - attached to the stunning modern  The Black Diamond of the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen is the reading room from 1906 and a very lovely library garden. 

Here's the mini summer library in a modern shopping plaza in Tallinn, Estonia, to illustrate that some cities make the library come to you. 

I'm finishing with the ultra modern library I swooned over. This is the one I'd like to have rammed in my suitcase.

Helsinki's library: Oodi 

Maybe it was the chess tables full of players on the ground floor, or the creative spaces where you could record music or use 3D printers, or the shelves of board games, or the events programme, or the cafes, or the terraces, or the way it was flooded with light, or packed with children in the amazing kids library, or the very long opening hours, or a whole floor of books. Sigh. 

Maybe it was because it's the place where I'd have loved to hang out as a teenager. 

Or now. 

Tracy Darnton is the author of YA thrillers and picture books known for their twisty endings. If she ever achieves world domination, she will build libraries. 

You can follow Tracy on Twitter or Instagram @TracyDarnton

The Five Laws of Ranganathan by Savita Kalhan

When I first came across a reference to The Five Laws of Ranganathan, I wondered what on earth these five laws were, and who was Ranganathan? The obscure reference sounded as though it had come straight out of a dystopian or sci-fi or fantasy book.

So I did what most people would do, and googled it, which made me wonder what we used to do before Google and easy access to information from all over the world was just a few clicks away. . . Well, we would have gone to the library to look him up. And that’s important because of who Ranganathan was, and what his five laws are.

Siyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was an Indian mathematician who was appointed as the first librarian of the University of Madras, a role he initially found boring and solitary after teaching maths. But after a trip to the University College of London, and a chance encounter with a Meccano toy set, on his way back by ship to India he began devising a library classification system that became known as Colon Classification (nothing to do with the digestive system as librarians will know!), which became widely adopted in libraries.

He firmly believed that libraries were a key source of education and should be freely available to everyone. He invented the term library science, and he opened a library college in 1929. In 1931, Ranganathan wrote his five laws and they were based on his views of what a library was for – and, just as importantly, who it was for.

So what are the five laws of Ranganathan?

1. Books are for use

Ranganathan believed that books shouldn’t be locked away to protect them. Yes, they should be stored and preserved carefully, but if they are not available to anyone who wanted to access them, what was their point? By emphasising books are for use, he focused on factors like the library's location, loan policies, opening hours, the quality of staffing, down details such as library furniture, temperature control and lighting.

2. Every reader his/her book

Because Ranganathan believed that everyone was entitled to an education and that libraries played a central role in providing education, he felt that librarians were under an obligation to not only provide a well-stocked library, but to know their stock so they could best help and advise their readers.  

3. Every book its reader

Every book should be placed in the library so that its readers can find it. For example, Ranganathan thought that open shelving for children’s books was best, so that kids could find the book they wanted easily.

4. Save the time of the reader

Part of the library service is meeting the requests of readers efficiently. So Ranganathan promoted a skilled staff, trained in library science. And he didn’t believe in centralising books in one place because access to them would be denied to many people.

5. The library is a growing organism

Ranganathan acknowledged that as times and needs changed, so too the library should evolve to meet the needs of the time in terms of books, space, readership, and use.

In 1998 Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association updated the ALA’s five laws of Library Science based on Ranganathan’s five laws:

1. Libraries serve humanity.

2. Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.

3. Use technology intelligently to enhance service.

4. Protect free access to knowledge.

5. Honor the past and create the future.

Ranganathan's contribution to library science is marked on August 12th, National Librarians Day in India, which is celebrated in his honour. He was also made vice president for life of the Library Association of Great Britain.

S.R.R. Ranganathan tirelessly campaigned for libraries to be opened all across India – not just in the cities and towns, but in rural areas too, for them to be available, open and accessible to anyone and everyone at all levels of society, and for libraries to be well-stocked – with books and librarians! It’s a shame that, eighty six years after Ranganathan first wrote his laws, we’re still campaigning for the same things in the UK.

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National Libraries Week - Savita Kalhan

 

National Libraries Week has moved from its traditional slot in February. It will will now be held from the 9th to the 16th of October. It’s planned to be a week-long celebration of what libraries are, what they can do for you, for children, students and adults. Libraries will be showcasing their services, events, with themes such as digital, creative, family, inspirational, health, employment, education, families and diversity. Libraries week covers not just public libraries, but all libraries - including school libraries. 

The Facts

According to statistics compiled by the Carnegie Trust, 250 million visits were made to libraries in 2016. 15-24year olds visit the library more than over 55s. Three out of four people in the UK say that libraries are essential to their communities. 51% of us have a library card, and 41% have used a library over the last year.

Looking at these facts makes me wonder why libraries are still being closed, librarians continue to lose their jobs, and children denied easy access to their local libraries, when libraries are clearly fundamental to communities.

After a month long closure, Finchley Church End Library reopened last week in its new premises. My teen reading group met there for the first time after the summer break on Monday 2nd October. It is the only day of the week that we can hold our teen reading group meet as under-18s are not permitted to enter a library without an adult. Because it is classified as a "Core Plus" library, most days are self-service and for adults only. Some of my teens typically go directly to the library after school, which they will no longer be able to do. Kids in Year 11, aged 15, will be allowed access but only with a registration form signed by their parents and stamped by the school. 16-18 year-olds will need a signed registration form from their parents. 

But still the library staff there do their best to support the teen reading group, and provide us with enough books, which have to be gathered from across the borough. Teens are reading and they want more choice, they want more books. 

My local library was full of kids doing their homework, reading, hanging out, after school, before going home. They can only do that on a Monday now. In fact, the situation is much the same across the whole of Barnet, and, from stories I've read, it is possibly the same across the whole of the UK. It is a dire situation.

So please visit your library during libraries week, and use the hashtag #librariesweek and tweet/facebook etc to help publicise and celebrate libraries – while we still have them!

by Chris Riddell

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National Book Lovers Day by Jess Butterworth

As I write this, it is National Book Lovers Day, a day for bibliophiles to celebrate their love of books. This day always reminds me of Matilda, by Roald Dahl, and the feisty five-year-old protagonist who makes her life bearable by teaching herself to read, devouring books and surrounding herself in literature from her local library. It’s also one of my favourite books!

In my mind, Book Lovers Day isn’t limited to once a year, so here are some ways to celebrate your love of reading every day!

1.    Visit a library.

2.    Find a favourite spot to read, or make a reading nook.

3.     Try a book swap with a friend.

4.     Read blogs about books.

5.     Join a book club.

6.     Attend a literary festival or author event.

7.     Buy a new notebook to start your own story in.

8.     Write a review. It will make an author’s day and be valuable to other readers too.

9.   Visit bookshops. 

10.  Read aloud. 

Happy Reading!

Jess Butterworth 

Running on the Roof of the World is out now. 

Find out more about Jess on her website, Twitter, or Facebook.  

Amazing Children's Libraries by Savita Kalhan

Following on from my blog The Weird and the Wonderful about libraries and librarians across the world, this is a blog about the most amazing children's libraries across the world where children can meet books in the most wondrous ways.

Yes, there are some great children's libraries in the UK, but with the general trend in libraries being shut down, or being under-funded, and the new proposals that will mean limiting access to libraries for kids under sixteen unless they are accompanied by an adult, I think it's important to highlight what can be done and is being done elsewhere.

When I was growing up, the children's library in my town wasn't wondrous in any other way than the fact that it contained tons and tons of books. That was enough for me. But if it had looked like any of the libraries below, I would have been pretty happy about it too!

Take Brentwood Library in the States. How amazing is that!

Singapore has the first 'green' library, which was built using sustainable and recycled materials, including a tree-house made entirely of recycled, donated bottles.

The Cerritos Millenium Library has a giant book entrance -

which leads into this -

In Burundi, they've incorporated hammocks as reading spaces -

Vancouver Community Library, like so many of these amazing libraries, incorporates play areas and reading areas for kids.

We do have some great children's libraries in the UK -

Camden Children's Library

Highfields Primary School has a double decker bus decked out as woodland -

Rosendale Primary School in south London had no space for a library so used a double decker bus too -

Cordawalles Junior School in Surrey also has woodland theme -

If I were a kid I would want to spend as much time as possible in these libraries, and most of them have great teen areas too. They're fun, inviting, magical and full of wonder. And then there's the books they contain too.
Some libraries go over and above their duty to children. Some have the budget to do so. Others are sadly fighting closures.

The Weird and the Wonderful by Savita Kalhan

There are so many weird and wonderful libraries across the world! From public libraries to school libraries, and from adult libraries to kid's libraries, there is a huge variety in the way that books are delivered. There are also many beautiful libraries, but this blog isn't about breath-taking libraries like Trinity College Library or the Library of El Escorial in Spain, and so many others. It's about the weird and the wonderful, and the extraordinary lengths some people go to in order to get books into the hands of readers.

The Donkey Libraries

Luis Soriano is a primary school teacher who runs the Biblioburro program in his spare time. He loads his donkeys, Alfa and Beto, full of books and then travels up to four hours each way to visit remote villages in rural Colombia. He reads to kids, helps them with homework, and loans them books from his mobile library. Occasionally, he encounters bandits, but it's never deterred him, and so far he's brought books to over four thousand kids who have little access to books.

The Camel Libraries

Rashid Farah, a librarian in the Kenyan National Library Service, started sending librarians across Kenya on camels to reach nomadic communities in order to raise the literacy levels in the North East province, which were at only fifteen percent. With no running water or electricity, schools had little chance of being able to afford any books. The camel bookmobile serves over 6,000 people, with books reaching children who are desperate for them.

The Tank Library
In Argentina, Artist Raul Lemesoff took a 1979 Falcon tank (a tank which for many Argentines symbolises the dark days of the repressive military junta) and reconfigured it into a mobile library. He stocks around nine hundred books on it, and drives it to small towns and rural communities in the country. His Falcon is kept stocked with books by donations.

The Motorbike Library

Retired Italian schoolteacher, Antonio La Cava, decided that after 42 years of teaching, he wanted to carry on spreading the love of reading to children. So he bought a second-hand Ape motorbike and modified it to create a library on wheels carrying at least 700 books. He's been travelling in his “Bibliomotocarro” ever since.

The Forest Libraries

In Berlin, dead trees were bolted together and cut with hollows covered with flaps to serve as bookshelves. The first Book Forest was installed in 2006, initially planned to stay in place for a year, but they have since multiplied and have now become a fixture in the city, with people bringing books and swapping them for books they haven't read. The Book Forest is open all hours and open to everyone.

The Boat Library

Every year, between September and April, a book boat called Epos travels to over 250 Norwegian communities on islands in the fjords with 6,000 books and a couple of librarians. The service started in 1959, and it's paid for by the libraries of the three districts it serves.

The Beach Library

Herman Kompernas built a library on the sandy beach of the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Albena and stocked it with over 2,500 books in 10 languages. Guests are invited to borrow the books (for free) and leave their own for others to read.

The Micro-Libraries

Little free libraries started in 2009 - according to Publishers Weekly there are now over 6,000 in forty different countries.

In the UK, de-commissioned red phone boxes, bought from BT for a pound, have been turned into book swap zones. So far there are over four hundred book phone boxes. In all, 2,400 phone boxes have been adopted for £1 for all sorts of uses – book exchanges, heart defibrillators, libraries, coffee bars, and even a pub.

The Vending Machine Libraries

I didn't know that book vending machines have been around since the 1930s. They've spread to train stations, busy streets, shopping malls, and across the world. In one district in Beijing over thirty per cent of books are borrowed through book vending machines.

The Bus Library

Brazilian bus conductor Antonio da Conceição Ferreira, 42, was inspired by his love of reading to create Culture on the Bus, transforming the bus he rides into a small library. He offers around 15 titles on a shelf inside the bus everyday and lends those books to passengers.

So you know how this blog is going to end, don't you?

The Fortress Libraries...

Sadly, in the UK the opposite is happening - we're either closing libraries or spending lots of money on turning our community libraries into under-stocked fortresses with no librarians and limited access for under 16s, who will have to be accompanied by an adult in order to get inside the new key-coded, locked buildings. 

Go inside most libraries after school between 3pm and 6pm and you will find teenagers reading, looking at books, and doing their homework. I was one of those teens at one time. It's a terrible, terrible thing to deny access to libraries, to books, to the kids who want and need it most. 

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