𐌎 turn the page

when I was a child, we visited a

library in Westcliff-on-Sea:

single storey, yellow brick & steel framed:

glass fronted and designed by

P F Burridge in 1968:

skipping across the floor to the 

children's section:

choosing books from the shelves:

thumbing through the heavy reference books:

not for borrowing, only for looking:

that smell of books:

zigzagging coloured spines:

sitting in the courtyard in the Summer:

despite owning a few books 

some given

some gifts

we still used a library:

now I have something else:

my next novel will be read on it:

is this the new library?

it won't be for me:

reading books is not about owning books:

and I do own many:

those first visits to the library introduced me to

the wider world of literature:

picture books, atlases, poetry:

books we could never afford to buy:

they are all still there:

and more ....

have you got a ticket?

when was the last time you went to the library?

use it or lose it: