Yvette Huddleston: Nurturing imagination in the young

Figures were released this week showing that the continued closure of public libraries across the country is having the most detrimental effect on our youngest readers.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Dec 2017, 10:24 BST
Updated 18th Dec 2017, 10:25 BST
POWER OF IMAGINATION: Leeds Central Libary helping to enrich young readers.POWER OF IMAGINATION: Leeds Central Libary helping to enrich young readers.
POWER OF IMAGINATION: Leeds Central Libary helping to enrich young readers.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s annual survey presents a pretty depressing picture and some of the numbers are shocking. Since last year we have lost 105 libraries in England, Scotland and Wales and in the past five years loans of children’s books in England have gone down by 22 per cent.

This catastrophic situation is a result of the government’s brutal cuts to local authority budgets and its seemingly philistine attitudes towards culture. It is yet another example of the way in which the arts have been consistently undermined and undervalued by those currently in power.

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A quiet place to read and free access to a whole world of imagination is being denied to more and more children, especially those in big cities.

Like many people of my generation, the library was the first place that I encountered books as an independent reader. I looked forward to the weekly visits, eager to discover all those stories among the shelves. As Alan Bennett, himself a great supporter of and campaigner for libraries, says in The Uncommon Reader: “a book is a device to ignite the imagination.”

The future is in the hands of our young people – allowing them free or affordable access to knowledge and experiences that enrich their lives, increase their understanding and empathy and help enable them to build a better, fairer world is surely more important now than ever.

Thankfully, there are some who realise this, such as those lovely people at Slung Low. In their December mailout the Leeds-based theatre company shared some exciting news. Their epic project Flood, made in partnership with Hull UK City of Culture, will have a fantastic ongoing legacy. The script of the four-part piece set in the watery aftermath of a future environmental disaster was published by Bloomsbury, and Slung Low decided to offer on social media a free copy to drama teachers, schools, librarians and youth group leaders. In less than 48hrs all 300 copies had been claimed and were then distributed to schools, theatres, libraries and universities in the UK and around the world. It means that groups of young people across the country, and much further afield, will be discussing the urgent and important ideas that Flood explores.

It seems a very fitting – and rather hopeful – way to round off a wonderful project.

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