There it is, can you see it hiding behind the tree. Hiding to no avail. I'm told by a friend of a friend that the axe has fallen.
It's demise won't affect me, because I couldn't use it. It made me dizzy. I used to go on board to pick up an elderly lady's books and my head would swim and if I lingered too long I would feel nauseous. Every time someone moved or a vehicle passed by, the van would rock and I was hanging on to the shelves. Would you believe it, travel sickness in a stationary library van.
My 92 yr. old neighbour is going to miss it a great deal though. It stops right outside her door so that she doesn't have to carry heavy books. She reads a lot and gets half a dozen books every three weeks. It seems that a service is going to be available for someone to deliver some books for her to read, but that won't be the same as choosing her own reading material, nor does it replace the social occasion which the van provided for her.
The 'Old Grump' say's it reminds him of an episode of 'Steptoe and Son' where Harold fetches Albert some books from the library and Albert says, "Read it, read it, I don't like him, read it. That was a waste of time wasn't it".
Government cuts - I wonder where the axe will fall next?
You know you can report that previous poster for spam, don't you?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow.... I bet if a bunch of volunteers got together they could probably organise a mobile library. You'd need to get someone to sponsor the van - but books would be easy to obtain. simply ask people (like me) who currently donate second hand books to charity. You'd soon have a decent collection - though they might not be too new.
Or you could get the local pub to open up one morning, offer a shelf to store books on and serve tea and coffee to anyone who called in to change their books. The van could pick up the old selection and deliver new ones.
We have to accept that these services are going and that volunteers have to take over (like meals on wheels). Call it Books on Wheels.
We still have a village library but it's never open when I can get to it now because of cut backs. I drive for an hour each way to get to work so nothing is open in my village when I'm there.
'Where there is a will there is a way' Am sure there is a solution to the loss of your official library van; is there a branch of the RWVS operating in your area ? For this is one of the services that they used to facilitate.
ReplyDeleteWe are in a very remote area, we do not have mobile libraries so our local post office/pharmacy/general store has an area where people can book swap. There are plenty of books on shelves. We can either simply swap a book, or pay a nominal fee to take a book.
ReplyDeleteJane x
ours is hanging on.........just!
ReplyDeletenever found a book I wanted to read in it YET but I continue trying