St James St Library Campaign

A big thank-you to everyone who came and helped make Saturday’s St James
Street open-air library event another success, and a welcome to all new
supporters. To all those who publicised it, helped set it up, ran the
stalls, spent ages preparing, swapped books, donated goods, made music,
expressed your good wishes or added your names to our supporters’ list:
thanks, all of you, and we look forward to next time. Same time, same
place, outside the library in Coppermill Lane, 1 March 2008.Some people asked for leaflets to give out at other events they go to.
This is an excellent way to publicise our events, so I’ve attached a
flyer that can be printed out and copied.Many people asked if the bookswap was every Saturday. We had to tell
them it’s only the first Saturday of the month at present — but as
the weather gets better, who knows? Saturday was freezing cold, but as the
wind and rain held off it was the most comfortable event so far.
Especially for those of us who forgot to bring gloves last time but
remembered this time … And as we’ve survived deepest winter weather
already, we can hope it will be even warmer next time.

The best thing, along with being thanked so often for providing books
in a book-starved area, was the fun we had. So many interesting people,
fascinating books to browse while taking a tea break, wonderful music
(thanks, Russ and Jim) and the great feeling of community and
solidarity.

One visitor asked for audio books; can anyone get us some for next
time? A new element was the video stall, as one kind supporter donated
what must have been her whole video library - I’m delighted with picking up Lord of the Rings. I was impressed by the high
quality of books we’ve been given, too. More than one customer said the
range was better than in the dumbed-down Walthamstow Central library!
As always, lots of passers-by were excited because they thought the\u003cbr /\u003elibrary was reopening, then of course looked terribly disappointed.That always makes me feel sad. One elderly chap who used to spend a lot\u003cbr /\u003eof time browsing in the library said today \u0026quot;It gets very lonely sitting\u003cbr /\u003eat home\u0026quot;. As with all the children who coloured in Sarah\’s handmade\u003cbr /\u003eValentine\’s hearts today and stuck them on the library windows — these\u003cbr /\u003epeople deserve better and are worth campaigning for.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYou probably know that our councillors voted last year to close St\u003cbr /\u003eJames Street to save £70,000 a year, while voting payrises for\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves totalling £230,000 a year. Though the council claimed they\u003cbr /\u003ehad been underpaid before, they were in fact paid pretty much the\u003cbr /\u003eLondon average. If you want to ask them to reopen the library, you can\u003cbr /\u003econtact the three local councillors for this (High Street) ward:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onclick\u003d\”return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\” href\u003d\”mailto:cllr.liaquat.ali@walthamforest.gov.uk\”\u003ecllr.liaquat.ali@walthamforest\u003cwbr /\u003e.gov.uk\u003c/a\u003e (Labour)\u003cbr /\u003eCllr.James.O\’\u003ca onclick\u003d\”return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\” href\u003d\”mailto:Rourke@walthamforest.gov.uk\”\u003eRourke@walthamforest.gov.uk\u003c/a\u003e (Lib Dem),\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onclick\u003d\”return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\” href\u003d\”mailto:cllr.johar.khan@walthamforest.gov.uk\”\u003ecllr.johar.khan@walthamforest\u003cwbr /\u003e.gov.uk\u003c/a\u003e (Lib Dem)\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eor Clyde Loakes, the leader of the council, at\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onclick\u003d\”return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\” href\u003d\”mailto:leader@walthamforest.gov.uk\”\u003eleader@walthamforest.gov.uk\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eor find councillors for other wards at\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onclick\u003d\”return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\” href\u003d\”http://www1.walthamforest.gov.uk/moderngov/\” target\u003d_blank\u003ehttp://www1.walthamforest.gov\u003cwbr /\u003e.uk/moderngov/\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003emgMemberIndex.asp?FN\u003dPARTY\u0026amp;VW\u003dLIST\u0026amp;J\u003d1\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eDo contact us if you have any thoughts or questions. Looking forward to\u003cbr /\u003eseeing you next time,\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAll best wishes,\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e”,1] ); //–>
As always, lots of passers-by were excited because they thought the
library was reopening, then of course looked terribly disappointed.
That always makes me feel sad. One elderly chap who used to spend a lot
of time browsing in the library said today “It gets very lonely sitting
at home”. As with all the children who coloured in our handmade
Valentine’s hearts today and stuck them on the library windows — these
people deserve better and are worth campaigning for.

You probably know that our councillors voted last year to close St
James Street to save £70,000 a year, while voting payrises for
themselves totalling £230,000 a year. Though the council claimed they
had been underpaid before, they were in fact paid pretty much the
London average. If you want to ask them to reopen the library, you can
contact the three local councillors for this (High Street) ward:
cllr.liaquat.ali@walthamforest.gov.uk (Labour)
Cllr.James.O’Rourke@walthamforest.gov.uk (Lib Dem),
cllr.johar.khan@walthamforest.gov.uk (Lib Dem)

or Clyde Loakes, the leader of the council, at
leader@walthamforest.gov.uk

or find councillors for other wards here

Do contact us if you have any thoughts or questions. Looking forward to
seeing you next time!