We love reading and books. We were both brought up to love visits to the library - in my case, the grand old Cardiff central library in The Hayes.
So we were horrified a few years ago when Buckinghamshire County Council made the crass decision to close the library in our village, Chalfont St Giles. But happily the village refused to accept the loss of this vital service. Good people like Tony Hoare put in long hours to save it as a community library. Tony explained how the village saved the library on BBC 1's One show last Monday.
We have made a very modest financial contribution as friends of the library and have really appreciated this initiative since Owen was born in 2008. He can take out 15 books at a time, and is currently enjoying Man on the Moon, a vivid story about a man called Bob who goes to work on the Moon every day. The book lending service is supplemented by book readings and other events.
Above: Owen loves his library
We hope the library continues to flourish. But it's a huge shame that our local council - which should be nurturing reading in its communities - sought to destroy this vital service. Less well off communities may not have been able to save their libraries. Books and libraries may seem old fashioned in the internet age, but nothing is quite as magical as a wonderful book.
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