Turning a new page: How Meadows Library escaped closure

“The library is essential. Basically, it's a tool where people can have the opportunity to better themselves and to do well,” says Di. “Without libraries, it would be hard for some children to have access to books for free,” Jackie adds. 

Yes, children can have their own books, or Kindles, but there are lots of people that just can't afford these things. This access to literacy can lift the next generation out of a cycle of deprivation, which is crucial in an area like the Meadows.

But libraries are more than just books. Sitting around a table in the adult section, Jackie and Di share the many activities that happen here, including arts and crafts, lego club, science club and quizzes.

“Children come here after school because they feel safe here, and the parents know they're safe here, they can do crafts and whatever they want to do,” says Jackie. “All the primary schools come with the teachers to choose books, and someone will read them stories.”

“The councillors are here on a Wednesday morning, same time that we do the sewing group, they hold their surgery here so people can come in and see them,” she continues. Some people come in just to use the computers or printers, an essential for those without this access at home.

Jackie tells me that during COVID, “as soon as they said you can meet outside, we used to sit in the garden with our coats on. Then it was such a relief when they said you can come back into the library now. Everyone was happy. Because to a lot of them, it's the highlight of the week, where they can come and talk to each other. Some of them come for years. So it's like a library and community hub and community centre all rolled into one”. 

Yet sadly, libraries across the country are struggling. “Local government has been starved of finance for such a long time,” says Di, and until very recently the Meadows Library was under threat. It was only when a retired lawyer came on board that the library was saved. He helped to obtain deeds from 2009 when the library was refurbished, stating that for twenty years, the building can't be used for anything else other than being a library.

Friends of Meadows Library is a self funded organisation separate to library services. Like so many groups in Nottingham, they wouldn't exist without volunteers. They raise funds which go back to the library, put on events and have paid for face painters, Christmas trees and things for the garden. They put posters out in the community, to reach out further because they know a lot of people in the Meadows aren't online. 

They are currently writing Memories of Meadows Library, a community history book with memories and photographs, and making plans for their 100 year celebration on 8 March, where they will unveil a wall hanging created by the local community.

The building itself, with its iconic dome, was originally funded by the Carnegie Trust, and the current Trust Chair will be coming to the centenary event. A ramp leads to the entrance today, but looking over the side you can see the original steps. Jackie and Di tell me that it is tradition for libraries to have steps up to their entrances, as you walk up towards knowledge and enlightenment.

So what can we do to keep the library safe? “We've just got to try and bolster people's involvement with the library,” says Di. “Sometimes it can be quite daunting for people to come into a place they haven't been before, but it's all about getting people through the door, realising what a friendly place it is.”

@FOML16