Campaign to save public libraries - Brent, London

The public library at Kensal Rise in Brent, London, is a late Victorian brick building built in the style reminiscent of a country house or a vicarage of that period. It resonates not only with a certain nostalgia, but also with an energy and motivation characteristic of the work of the writer Mark Twain, who opened the library in 1900. Citizens  engaged in the struggle to retain Kensal Rise library continue to protest against the policies of Brent Borough Council.
   In the eighteen months since Brent council announced that six libraries in the borough would be closed, hostilities between protesters and officials have become more visible, entrenched around the issue of whether in a time of financial austerity local authorities should preserve access for citizens to sources of reading material. In short, the campaign has become one symbol of the struggle for citizens against ignorance. Local residents put forward a business plan which entails the community taking over the library and running it at no cost to local people - including taxpayers - as a local 'third sector' facility. Third sector is the widely used term used to refer to what are called 'not-for-profit' groups and organisations, normally outside the public, voluntary and private sectors.
   Brent library campaigners on one hand may be presented as marginal to the major responsibilities of local authorities for providing public services. On the other hand, they symbolise the empowerment of citizens motivated to campaign to save public services which people deem essential, even if council officials don't prioritise them.

Jones, S. (2012) 'Borrowed time for books as campaigners win another day for Mark Twain's library' The Guardian, 17 May


Campaign to save public libraries
Public services: campaign to save public libraries