My National Libraries Day visit to the three events organised by campaigners fighting to reopen libraries closed by Brent Council turned out to be an emotional roller coaster. Common to all of them was determination to carry on the struggle and the immense value they place on books and community.
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| The wind and rain did not deter early arrivals at Kensal Rise intent on clearing up the mess left by All Souls College |
Kensal Rise after the events of this week deserves a posting of its own. I arrived in the rain this morning to find people already working at clearing up the mess left by security guards hired by All Souls College. They were under orders to clear the pop up library so that that All Souls could hand over the site to developer Andrew Gillick on the completion of the sale. The sale went through despite the on/off police investigation into fraudulent emails that supported Gillick's planning application for the site..
A large number of books ruined by exposure to the rain were being thrown into a skip bag while volunteers were sorting through others. The pop up's piano was also ruined beyond repair. Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has arranged with the Campaign to get the books removed to a safe and dry place this coming Monday. Unfortunately too late for some of the books.
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| The ruined books and pianos ended up in a skip | | |
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| By the late afternoon the surviving books and shelves had been neatly packaged ready for transfer |
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| Campaigners remain defiant as sun replaces the rain |
A true picture of the philistinism of that pervades the land: a public-private partnership courtesy of Brent Council who closed the Library, and All Souless College who sold it to a developer.
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