9 Reasons Why Writers Might Hate Or Absolutely Love Libraries
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”
Do the hairs on the back of your fingers tingle with excitement at the ideas you can discover and words you could write in a library?
Or does the word ‘library’ stick in your throat like a fishbone?
Libraries can polarise writers, believe it or not. It can be love or hate and anything in between. Where do you stand?
I remember when libraries were quiet, cavernous buildings. Places should you sniff, or heaven forbid sneeze, eyes glared at you with disdain. How dare you intrude into the silence.
Libraries no longer exist only as a repository for books. They are community centres that provide access to books, digital ebooks, magazines and audiobooks - for free.
And for some writers and publishers - that is the rub. Let me explain more.
National Libraries Week runs from the 5th -10th October. It is an annual showcase and celebration of the best that libraries have to offer. The theme for 2020 is, ‘Your Passport to Reading.’
By giving everyone a ‘passport to reading’ is it harming those who write the words contained on the shelves? Does free access to all books whatever format you consume them help or harm writers?
During lockdown in 2020 libraries played a critical role in the well-being of the nation. Nick Poole is the Chief Executive of CILIP (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) the UK’s library and information association. He said people registering with their local library, saw a rise of 600-700% during the lockdown, which is staggering. More people are consuming more books. That has to be a good thing, doesn’t it?
Sidney Sheldon sold a book or two … or three hundred million.
Sheldon sees libraries as windows to the world, changing it for the better. That’s true. Libraries are places where money is not a barrier to accessing knowledge, where nothing restricts learning, or being entertained, and encourages that vital of all human abilities - reading. Libraries provide a way for anyone to learn anything. If you have access to a library that is - some people sadly may not. I can’t imagine a world without libraries.
Do you see them the same? Or do you consider them an obstacle or roadblock for your writing?
Let’s dive in and see.
Why Do Writers & Publishers Want to Throw The Book At Libraries?
Kenneth Whyte wrote a controversial opinion in Overdue: Throwing the Book at Libraries. It raised a significant response it seems from the publishing industry. He asks the question, ‘Are booksellers and libraries in competition? He thinks they are, and it’s the publishing industry and authors who are losing. He cites a “Library Value Calculator” that lets you see how much you have saved by not purchasing books. Then he questions if the reduced median income of authors is a result of the impact and growth of libraries.
Are Libraries, Then, The Enemy of Authors and Publishers?
Hugh Stephens responds to Whyte’s view in Are Libraries the Enemy of Authors and Publishers? He sees how libraries undercut booksellers to the detriment of authors. Also, he adds that for some authors, second-hand book shops are as much an enemy. Stephens links to a tweet from Harris Country Public Library in Texas. A comical advert for the benefit you can get from libraries all for free. It makes the point. But Joanna Penn (a firm favourite of DWS) explains how it is possible to get your books into libraries and bookstores as an independent author. Then in The booming Trade in second-hand Books, Lucy Hooker argues that apart from the importance of recycling second-hand books - there could be incredible value in the book and for the author being discovered by a new reader.
Does Being a Librarian Make You a Better Writer?
Sitting somewhere in the middle is librarian Xhenet Aliu. How Being a Librarian Makes Me a Better Writer. Aliu sees how her librarianship and writing are complementary.
Can Libraries Truly Help Readers Become Writers?
Sari Feldman is the executive director of Cuyahoga County Public Library in Ohio. In How Libraries Can Help Readers Become Writers, she explains a writer-in-residence program. It is interesting to see how it has helped build links between writers and the local community. Is this something that you could offer your local Library?
Could There Be Gold In The Relationship Between Authors & Libraries?
For an insider’s perspective on a love-hate library dilemma see author, Jill Marshall. Treasuring the relationship between authors and libraries. Marshall laments the sensory environments of the libraries of her youth. The shelves were, ‘full of glorious, untapped adventure, emotion and possibility’ - but now acknowledges libraries are community centres full of comfy chairs and internet terminals. Her love-hate is the realisation about how many books are there. Seeking to find her book on the shelf was a quest itself. Still, she questions the truth that every book of hers lent out is one less sale made. But I’m not sure I agree. I’ve loaned books and enjoyed them so much I went a brought a copy for my own library shelves.
How Can A Library Be A Writer’s Endless Treasure Trove For Ideas?
Writing a series on Umberto Eco’s book, “How to Write a Thesis,” is Elizabeth Chey. She says We Love Libraries: A Writer’s Endless Treasure Trove for Ideas. She suggests a path that writers can take to help them search for information. First, go straight to the librarian. I love the German term “Fernweh knowledge” she uses. “Fernweh knowledge,” is where you go to a place unknown (far away from your knowledge base). It’s wandering about museums, libraries and gardens looking for nothing in particular. But, learning something as you go. She explains the word fernweh comes from German. It means something like wanderlust. “Where you yearn to be in a far-away place, and a book can be one of the best destinations you’ve ever gone.”
Do We Still Need Libraries In An Online World?
Writing in the Society of Authors Blog, A. L. Kennedy answers the question of why we need libraries. She says the reduction of libraries has been to the betterment of writers, but a detriment to the art of writing. Libraries were instrumental in her development as an author. She says, “Our libraries help us to keep our forgetting at bay. Beneath the joy, the fun, the drama, the sweet shock of newness and serendipity that libraries offer, they tell us, over and over, to remain humane. They keep us as safe as they can, then send us home with dignity.” So yes, we still need libraries.
What Makes Libraries Wonderful For You?
Authors Nicole Dennis-Benn, Sandra Cisneros, Janet Fitch and Elizabeth McCracken tell us what makes libraries unique in For the Love of Libraries: Four Authors on What Makes Libraries Wonderful Another ‘worship of writers’ (not sure if that is a collective noun but I like it) extoll the pleasure of libraries in 12 authors write about libraries they love.
Why Could Libraries Then Be Vital To Writers?
The bestselling author Milly Johns tells Writing Magazine how her writing career got off the ground thanks to her local Library and why libraries are vital to her. She tells of how a single librarian was instrumental in her development of being a writer.
Is the Library as a friend or foe providing you with unending resources on the one hand, then stealing your livelihood on the other?
Where do you stand - or sit in a corner with a book on a comfy chair at the local Library?
If you are a writer feeling threatened by the sheer number of books on the shelves of your local Library, remember this. The last book you picked up from the library shelf, at one point, the writer felt the same.
Don’t let the idea daunt your confidence in your writing ability.
Don’t let it deter the activity from getting the words out of your head and onto the page.
What Is My View?
I associate Libraries with discovery, adventure and Saturday mornings.
My dad or mom would take me every week to get a supply of new books. There was a children’s section in one corner and I was allowed to pick four or five books. The librarian would stamp the little brown card tucked inside the front cover with a return date for two weeks. It didn’t matter because I knew one week later I would be back.
You see I loved libraries.
I still do. And I am a writer.
What about you?
Write and let us know stories of your relationship with libraries; we would love to hear from you.
Want To Know More About National Libraries Week in Derbyshire?
You can search your social media of choice with the hashtag - #librariesweek. Check out National Libraries Week on Facebook or on Twitter.
For more information about libraries in Derbyshire, check out these resources.
Derbyshire County Council website - information about Libraries
Searching - Find your local Library in Derbyshire - will allow you to find the Library closest to you. It’s current opening hours and restrictions.
The Derbyshire Libraries eNewsletter - gives details on literary events during National Libraries Week.
The Digital Library is always open. Derbyshire County Council Libraries will be moving all the digital eAudiobooks and eMagazines service to the Libby app later in the year.
You can borrow and read ebooks and audiobooks from your local Public Library for free using the Derbyshire County Council Borrow Box. Derbyshire Libraries have subscribed to BorrowBox - a download service that allows you to Borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks free from your Library using their app. You can find more about Borrow Box here.
Derbyshire County Council Libraries are on Facebook and Twitter.
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