Libraries Gave Us Power
The importance of community spaces and places is one that is common to many – perhaps all – Culture Collective projects. With this in mind, we’re delighted to publish a new blog celebrating libraries by Inverclyde Culture Collective Writer in Residence Katharine Macfarlane, along with her glorious poem ‘The Library’. Enjoy!
I love libraries. Some of my happiest moments have been spent exploring, escaping, working and laughing in libraries across Scotland. My own experience of libraries is so far removed from the popular portrayal of libraries as silent shrines of serious study that I have become quite passionate about challenging this perception and demonstrating their vital-ness as community spaces and resources. Although I no longer work as a Librarian, libraries have continued to wind their way through much of the work that I do as a writer and workshop facilitator.
As Inverclyde Culture Collective Writer in Residence, I wanted to reach out to communities and engage with people at all stages of their writing journey. As we moved from a period of strict social distancing to tentative in-person meeting I was looking for safe, egalitarian spaces. Inverclyde Libraries were the obvious venues, not only are they situated in the heart of each community, but they also provide safe, flexible areas to write and chat and are staffed by the most welcoming of people. I’ve found that if I’m working in a new community one of the best ways to discover more about local issues, the best local organisations to work with and what types of activities might be of interest to people is over a cup of tea with library staff. Libraries are community hubs, they are there to connect people – with information, entertainment and most importantly with each other, for a community artist they can become an invaluable source of support and inspiration.
Inverclyde Libraries very quickly became much more than a venue. Their warm, welcoming play spaces inspired a storytelling strand. Staff suggestions led to a monthly Spoken Word event and helped instigate an initial contact with a local arts organisation who have since hosted it on an ongoing basis. This connection also led to the development of a whole new growing strand of the project (literally growing plants, veg etc) which culminated in an outdoor book launch in the new library garden. The libraries also provided a point of contact with the local museum who supported our writing sessions with materials as prompts and later became the venue for Film Poetry Workshops for which they helped recruit local West College Scotland students. When it came time to show the films, I asked the library if they had a projector we could use…they went one better with a pop-up cinema and staff with technical know-how to help set up and run the event. The libraries provided space, the loan of specialist equipment, local knowledge, support for recruiting participants and contacts with other organisations but by far the most important thing the libraries team brought to our Culture Collective activities was positivity. As it says on the wall of Greenock Central Library, ‘Libraries gave us power.’ (Manic Street Preachers, A Design for Life, 1996)
https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/libraries
Katharine Macfarlane, August 2023
The Library
Welcome …
To the Citadel of Community,
The Bastion of Social Inclusivity,
The Great Leveller of Opportunity,
Welcome to The Library.
Where guardians, dressed like unicorns,
Skilled in the intricacies of online systems,
Flight ticket printing,
Refuse collection permit applications,
Hover by the counter, listening, smiling
Ready for helping anyone who asks.
(Ask why they’re dressed like unicorns today,
They’ll answer simply ‘It’s National Unicorn Day’.)
Balancing miracles on shoestrings
Dealing in the ‘currency of humanity’
These guardians, friendly, forward-face of an unseen machine,
Singing, organising, validating information,
Answering queries on family history,
Bestsellers, mystery,
Opening times at the local gym,
Past papers to prepare for a prelim,
How to put a hearing aid battery in,
Sorting, shelving,
Ever-evolving.
We call them Librarians
But today, most people working in a library
Do not get a librarian’s pay,
(There is no money for librarian’s pay)
Yet these sharers of stories soldier on.
Cicero said ‘a room without books
Is like a body without a soul’.
This space is soul-full, laden with books,
The essence of kindness;
And yet, the shelves are all some see,
Issues the measure of success.
Look further, see the rest
Look past the books.
Welcome to The Library
Where angels in blue t-shirts
Offer biscuits, fresh arms for baby,
A reason to get dressed today,
The key to unlocking literacy.
‘Saving the world one library card at a time’
With stories and songs and rhythm and rhyme.
Welcome to The Library
Where an elderly man shuffles in
‘Morning, got the paper hen?’
First words he’s spoken today.
She’s laid it aside for him
(He’s always in at quarter to ten)
Shows him a new book that just came in,
Not on the shelf yet but she’s willing to bet
He’d choose it – Ralph Compton
She knows he’s read almost every one
But not this one, a surprise,
Stretched the western budget to get it,
Asks if he’ll join the new film club
Westerns on Wednesdays.
He shakes his head, turns away
Half turns back, mutters ‘aye, maybe.’
Welcome to The Library
Where giggling, black-clad Comic Club teens
Discover what belonging means.
Draw out angst, learn on borrowed screens
Skills for online comic creation,
Evil contained in gutters and animation,
Defeated by heroes of their own making.
And younger, with lego and playdoh
Building bridges between schools,
Redefining what’s cool,
Practicing social interaction
Without the distraction
Of who owns what. That is not
Important here where everything is free,
Belongs as much to you as it does to me.
Here, where there is no need for the sorting hat,
This is one House all sorts are welcome at.
Here, where the stories find you,
Find you fitting together the pieces of a puzzling world.
And younger still, with puzzles and toys,
A riot of discovery, fun and noise.
Stories brought to life right here on the floor
This is what the library is for.
Where the characters you discover are yours to colour
Not gifted from a filmmaker or animator or gamer,
Where choice is made without effect,
With no cost involved, parents let
The child find their own way.
Sixteen books about sharks read in one day
And one day, buoyed by stories, reading empathy,
Discovering the joy of discovery
Who knows who this child will be.
Welcome to The Library
Where a teacher, back to the Romances,
Arms spread wide
Is ushering charges inside, tightly calling
‘Keep moving children, no looking
These are Adult Books’.
Gangly, almost-teens filing past
Trying to catch a glimpse
Of something worth a look
Seeing only pink covers and eyes and spines
While Grannies, giggle into cardigans,
Whispering, ‘we are Dangerous Women.’
But we all remember it –
Getting an adult ticket,
Unrestricted freedom to dream,
Explore, find what we are here for,
And she is right to warn them
(tho not about Romance, it is mostly just sweet)
But she should warn them
About the ideas, the thoughts, the people they will meet
Between these pages,
Unbound by ages or space
The whole of human thought
(Validated, protected, in a way it is not online)
Held safe in this one place.
A thousand revolutions just waiting to begin
Waiting for the right reader to stumble in,
Waiting for the leader who reads between the lines.
Welcome to The Library
Where bags are packed,
Bound for story-lover homes
Where the joy of learning, of discovery,
Lasts longer than the ability
To walk further than the front door, and
Inside the front cover is tucked a letter
From the Library Club pre-teens
Sharing their love of reading.
Books bridging generations, connecting.
Welcome to the Library,
Apologies if you had to swerve at the front door,
Avoid the bags of compost on the floor –
They are for the Gardening Club
Which meets right after Art Club
Which runs at the same time as JobSkills Club
But after Bead N Blether
Which is after the Creative Writing group get together
Agus Buidheann Luchd-ionnsachaidh Gaidhlig cuideachd.
Welcome to Borges Paradise
Welcome to the Library …
The Abode of Ancestry
The Bastion of Books
The Cradle of Creativity
The Defender of Dignity
The Endorser of Empathy
The Fortress of Fun
The Guardian of Growth
The Home from Home
The Instigator of Imagination
The Justifier of Joy
The Keep of Kindness
The Lighthouse of Learning
The Meeting Hall of Music
The Nurturer of Noise
The Overseer of Opportunity
The Palace of the People
The Quaich of Questioning
The Recommender of Reading
The Store of Stories
The Tower of Truth
The Upholder of Universality
The Vault of Vocabulary
The Wholehearted Wisher of Welcomes
The Xyst of Xenophiles
The Yurt of Youth
The Ziggurat of Zeal
All sorted alphabetically,
Welcome, to The Library.
By Katharine Macfarlane, originally written for Bella Caledonia/ Glasgow Save Our Libraries campaign.