Shhh - don't tell anyone.... I've just written a short story to celebrate my granddaughter's fifth birthday next week.
We were doing role play at the top of the stairs the other day in a specially constructed den made of cushions, towels and various pieces of furniture from her bedroom. As we stacked up a pile of her favourite books, the talk soon turned to libraries.
What is a lady who works in the library called?' I asked.
'A librarian,' she replied, after a little prompting.
And what does the librarian say when you go in the library?
' Shh...' came the reply.
Shh?' I said. 'What does that mean?'
'It means please keep quiet, Grandma. You have to keep quiet in libraries.'
And so the idea for the 'birthday present' was born. But that's, well, another story...
Meanwhile, I'm thrilled that a trip to the library still means as much to my granddaughter as it did to me when I was a young child. Every week my two sisters and I would visit our local library where I first discovered one of my all-time favourite books 'A Peep Behind the Scenes' a 'turn-of-the-century' story by Mrs O.F. Walton.
Isn't it worrying, then, that libraries in the UK are closing every week as local authorities are forced to make 'necessary' cuts. Free access to books should surely be something for us to pass on to a future generation. Have you checked on the future of
your library lately? If not, take a look at
http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/
Meanwhile, I would tell you more about my new short story but I can't because..... Shh - I promised not to say a word.
