Below is a photo of young James being presented with some books from Croydon’s Mayor, for being one of the youngest babies to join a Croydon library in June. When James joined the library he was 5 days old and was beaten into third place by two younger babies!
James commitment is in part driven by his big brother’s love of books and visiting our local library. Our local Liberians are wonderful and we know them by name as we attend a couple of reading and music sessions there.
Alan’s love of reading has been encouraged by a number of factors – parents that love reading, encouragement at the library and the good work of Book Start. While we enjoy reading, it is helpful to get guidance from Book Start so that we know which books are likely to be winners.
I consider the boys to be lucky to have two parents who are committed to encouraging them to read and I know that there are many children who are not as fortunate – hence the benefit of our local library. We live in a relatively deprived part of London and I see that our library offers more than just a place to borrow books. Over the summer holidays, I have seen many children enjoying the summer’s reading challenges and during term time, I am aware of the children being supported during homework clubs. My experience of using the library is evidenced on a national basis through the work of the Reading Agency.
As a nation, we need more skilled knowledge workers and discouraging literacy by closing libraries would be detrimental to a generation of children who would miss out on the range of services that a library can offer. So as a mother and as a professional who struggles to recruit enough skilled people into her workplace, I am committed to ensuring my library services remain accessible.
I agree. Well said!
Comment by chris — August 31, 2010 @ 10:12 pm |