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:
