An Ode to Libraries

July 27, 2015

We've made it through four days of the Big Blogging Bonanza, and I'm overly excited! It's looking like I might actually get this thing done!

*takes deep breaths*

Okay, sorry, Fangirl-moment over. I had an idea over the weekend: wouldn't it be great if we all did this thing together? If you want to hold a BBB on your own blog, then there's some more information here - welcome aboard!

Now, I want to talk to you people about libraries.

You know what I mean. The massive rooms filled with books that usually smell really nice, like vanilla and dust and knowledge.

There's almost always a librarian or two tucked away in there somewhere. They're the awesome people who organise the shelves and know where absolutely everything is.

Oh, and did I mention the BOOKS?

There are so many more than I could ever fit in my room at home, or even the entire house, and they're arranged in alphabetical order.

Or even with the Dewey Decimal System.

I tried to do that with my collection, but I kind of . . . failed.

And there's another awesome thing about libraries. They have these not-so-secret things called library cards.

Library cards give you the power to take the books home.

You have to give them back after a certain time, of course, because everyone can tell from the plastic jackets that they aren't really yours.

Who cares? The books are free! You can always go back to get more.

But libraries have an ancient and formidable foe. The Goliath to their David, the Whale to their Jonah, the Voldemort to their Harry.

It's called the budget cut.

You see, governments all around the world are struggling for money. And like so many other brilliant things, libraries are expensive.

They're starting to close.

Books are expensive things too, and some people struggle to read without libraries.

Closing. Libraries. No. Reading.

So, whatever the cost, we need to keep libraries open. They are the natural habitat of the bookworm, the haven of information and truth. Reading helps children at school by practising their skills; adults at work by teaching them how to do things, and everyone to relax.