sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.com: Library Rant

Thursday 25 June 2015

Library Rant

There should be a Public Inquiry into Cardiff Central Library. Five Floors of wonder and the roof falls in and they are now scaling it down by stealth. The one previous, which was also fairly new when it was demolished for development gave way to one which was like a huge portakabin but with pictures of books down the side. This had more of a community feel to it. The librarians came across as more human somehow because they were on the same level as you. Now I owe a great debt to Cardiff Central Library. I have spent many hours in there on the computers and reading. I have discovered much to expand my brain but I was never convinced that it was a very happy place to work or that the people running it had a clue really. It just existed. Because I am back and fore to West Wales I am not in there as much but the last time was the straw that broke the camel's back. I needed to access a computer and the first three floors were being redeveloped. I just turned on my heels. Grangetown is being developed, Grangetown library is being developed into something called a 'HUB'. Hub appears to be the 'Buzzword' for the new, vibrant development. I think I am just getting old. There have been protests which at first appeared successful but this Council will do what it wants to do regardless of public feeling. I am not advocating a return to the sanctimonious silence of yesterday but the 'shushing'
librarian has to be an improvement on this soulless, dumbing down.
We don't want a 'F*****G HUB' We want a Library with character and with soul and one you're not going to tamper with for another ten years minimum. Yer a bunch of 'F*****G SHARKS!