Don't close the doors

Libraries all over the country are under threat of closure, or downscaling.  I was fortunate lately to be asked to read poetry at one of several benefit events for Newport Library in Pembrokeshire, which is being taken over and run by a group of very enthusiastic volunteers in the local community.

This is one of the poems I wrote for the event.
Libraries are not only about books, of course, many in rural areas such as ours are true centres of community.

Don’t close the doors

They are the most important places in town

and all over the country

they are closing them down.

 

All our tomorrows are behind those doors.

When they close them all forever,

they steal the future that is yours.

Each book is a door to a new world

an opening to imagination.

Trip through unexpected passages,

stumble over fresh ideas,

let stories open the gates

                to places

where you can escape into

                other spaces,

to find creative reflections,

a spur to new ideas,

the spark of further visions,

that show us the paths we need

to heal our divisions,

to begin to make things change.

They are the most important places in town

and all over the country

they are closing them down.

All our tomorrows are behind those doors.

When they close them all forever,

they steal the future that is yours.