SHHH, BE QUIET! (Reflective prose about library closures, Arts Council England & middle-class asset stripping.)
This is my attempt to reflect upon the closure of libraries in the UK under a rainbow cloak of austerity provided by propaganda from the Arts Council England... Rough and straight off the page...
SHHH, BE QUIET!
Books.
Tattered, battered,
Drawn upon.
Pages infuriatingly missing.
Plastic armour
Protected them.
Or so we thought.
Shhh, the women and men said then.
But we took little notice.
Laughing,
Borrowing,
Bringing back.
Carefully thumbed.
Usually unscathed,
Or Sellotape repaired.
Shhh!
But we weren’t quiet.
And they were
Ok with that;
With us.
Because we loved books.
We loved our library.
It was ours.
It was there
For us.
Always there for us.
Or so we thought.
‘Til they said, “NO!”
“No,” to councils,
“No,” to librarians,
“No,” to us.
All those years
Of history,
Of philanthropy,
Of Mining and Mechanics Institutes.
All those years
Of paying taxes
For public services,
For our libraries.
...
They swept our pasts
And our presents
Away!
...
Shhh, be quiet!
Austerity,
They say.
Shhh, be quiet!
Less is more,
They say.
Shhh, be quiet!
Chip in,
Volunteer!
They say.
Shhh, be quiet!
No need for
Tutting librarians.
They say.
Shhh, be quiet!
Art and
Culture.
Tech hubs,
Not books.
We’re investing,
Not closing.
Honest.
SHHH!
They’re fun now,
Child-friendly.
Better.
BE QUIET!
Arts companies IN.
Librarians and local councils OUT!
SHHH, BE QUIET!
But libraries are ours.
They were for us.
We paid for them.
They formed and held
Our hopes and dreams.
WE PAID FOR THEM!
Shhh, be quiet!
NO!
They are stripping
Our assets,
Our communities.
From community library
To Arts Centre,
They are transferring
Our assets
To the “cultured” middle-classes,
Courtesy of Arts Council England.
SHHH, BE QUIET!
NO!
YOU
ARE
CLOSING
ALL
OUR
LIBRARIES.
Their smiling “culture”
Invades our spaces.
Vultures.
They feed on our communities.
Devour our welfare state.
WE MUST NOT BE QUIET!
Save our libraries.
Save our public services.
WE WILL NOT BE QUIET!