What started as a rant about World Book Night and library services being cut (see World Library Night Parts 1 and 2) has turned into something quite wonderful for me. I am to be a Writer-In-Residence at Huddersfield Library for the next two weeks. But this is a residency with a twist. Instead of going out to schools and community groups to encourage reading, writing and the take up of library services, I’ll be writing about the experience of using the library and what it means for its members. This has been a personal project of mine for a while and I am in bits with excitement.
In one day, I have already caught a glimpse of the herculean lengths to which library staff go in their daily working lives. The general public really do have a staggering range of requests. Add to that the many groups who use the spaces on all four floors throughout the week; this place really is a hub. Over the coming weeks, I’ll also be visiting Birkby, Lindley and Deighton libraries to get a
sense of what these smaller centres mean to local residents. And after the two
weeks? Why, a book, of course…
Nilam McGrath 