Beloved Pinner resident and renowned author Michael Rosen has shared his anger over the closure of libraries across the country.
Michael has written more than 200 books and has won several notable awards, including the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize and the J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award from the charity Action for Children’s Arts in 2021. Over the years, Michael has shared his passion for libraries, having spent much of his childhood reading in Pinner Library.
According to a BBC investigation, 180 council-run libraries across the UK have closed since 2016, which Michael describes as being an “easy target”.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast earlier this month, Michael said: “They’re so important in so many different ways. We often think of libraries as just places with books. But they’re for teenagers who go in there and do homework who may not have computers, to get hold of large prints for people like me who have problems with their eyes, migrant families where maybe the mums, dads, grandparents don’t speak English.
“They’re like community hubs in some ways. It’s awful. I hear these stats and I talk to librarians all the time. It’s a mixture of horror and sadness. I feel angry and sad; I feel sangry about it!”
Photo: BBC Breakfast
0 Comments