Labour candidates gathered outside Leith Library on Saturday to show their support for the library service, saying it is one of the most popular services councils provide.
The group – Fred Hessler (Almond), Katrina Faccenda (Leith), Margaret Graham (City Centre), Mhairi Munro-Brian (Inverleith), Nkechi Okoro (Drum Brae/Gyle), and Richard Parker (Corstorphine/Murrayfield) held a “read in” reading aloud from a selection of books and a poem written specially for the occasion.
The would-be councillors point out that libraries are not just about books, although they are important, they also provide a welcoming (and warm!) place to go, with free access to other services like computers, toddlers’ rhyme-time, newspapers and so on.
Ian Rankin said: “Libraries have been a crucial part of my life since I was a kid. There weren’t many books in my house but my parents encouraged me to use the local library. I’ve been using them ever since – for fun and to research my own books. I’d be lost without them.”
Labour’s candidates in the 2022 election are determined to continue their support for the cherished service.
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All of them support the #LibrariesAreEssential campaign, which has the following aims:
- Support the funding of all libraries to ensure they can continue to support education, digital and information literacy, health and wellbeing, economic wellbeing and access to information.
- Agree that misinformation is damaging society and eroding democracy, that libraries and information professionals are vital in combating this and that they should be valued and supported.
- Ensure Local Government has the support required to ensure that they can deliver the new National Strategy for Public Libraries.
- Ensure that school libraries and librarians are key components of curriculum delivery, as outlined in Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools, and that all school pupils have access to a trained librarian.
The candidates recognise that it will not be easy, saying that year-on-year cuts delivered by the SNP to local government has resulted in deep cuts to Edinburgh’s library service, and they also demand full and fair funding for local government.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.