Libraries, Then Now and, Hopefully, Always.
Yes, it’s true, libraries don’t earn money. They don’t make anything. They have nothing to sell. They are a loss leader. Libraries cost money. It is a given.
All social, recreational, and learning facilities are expensive. And down the years, responsible, intelligent and creative authorities have got the point. But now, these services, if not at the bottom of the league table, are in the relegation zone.
I remember like it was yesterday… back in the mists of time, an over-excited 8 year old going to bed early every second Wednesday night because there was just one more sleep to ‘library day’. And I remember the next morning at 10 o’clock, a crocodile of mixed infants trailing the 400 yards from school to spend two hours in a huge mahogany furnished room, surrounded by books.
Of course, libraries are no longer the places they were – deadly silent, presided over by a severe matron in batwing spectacles; people daring to talk in whispers; pensioners with nothing to do, who arrived to read the morning papers then quietly dozed off at a corner table; readers rationed to a maximum of two books for fourteen days.
These days libraries are vibrant, interactive places. With coffee areas, noisy children’s spaces, all sorts of learning tools, internet access, CDs and DVDs and Downloads. And books. Still, hundreds of thousands of books.
And libraries are more important than ever. People who like books but can’t afford to buy paperbacks at £8.99, can borrow a dozen from the local library to read for three weeks. For absolutely nothing. There’s no fee to join a library, no membership requirements, other than to take care of the books while they are on loan.
I am a screenwriter and crime novelist. I write a contemporary thriller series set in the West Country, featuring Bristol private eye Jack Shepherd. And a series set in Bristol during the years following World War 2, featuring an American GI Ed Grover.
I earn my corn, working office hours five days a week. For some 40 years – beginning in theatre, moving to television and then publishing – writing has always been my day job. It has paid for my house and the things I am able to enjoy. In that I am truly fortunate.
But no matter how much – or how little – an author earns, the cheques are not the be all and end all. Authors don’t just want to sell books. They want people to read their books. Anybody’s books, all sorts of books. That, in a nutshell, is why writers will always support libraries. Places truly important for our growing up, our leisure, and our learning.
JEFF DOWSON 2021
Jeff Dowson began his career working in the theatre as an actor and a director, specialising in productions of contemporary British and European playwrights.
From there he moved into television as an independent writer/producer/director. Screen credits include arts series, entertainment features, drama documentaries, drama series and TV films.
Turning crime novelist in 2014, he introduced Bristol private eye Jack Shepherd in Closing the Distance. The series developed with Changing the Odds, Cloning the Hate and Bending the Rules.
The Ed Grover series, featuring an American GI in Bristol during the years following World War 2, began with One Fight At A Time. The second book New Friends Old Enemies was published in May 2021.
Born in northeast England Jeff now lives in Bristol. He is a member of BAFTA and the Crime Writers Association.
You can find out more about Jeff’s work by visiting www.jeffdowson.co.uk