We’re fighting to keep spirit of Carnegie alive
“This is the right decision by the Speaker. The Prime Minister might wish to kowtow to the nasty misogynist that now sits in the Oval Office but no-one else does. We do not want him to speak to us. He is not welcome. Trump should be under no illusion. We are snubbing him” - Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron on the news President Donald Trump will not be invited to address Parliament in Westminster Hall during his State Visit ANDREW Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1835. He emigrated to America where he made a vast fortune in the steel industry. He’s known not for just being the billionaire he so obviously was, but as a generous philanthropist. He devoted his life and his billions to libraries, education and scientific research.
Yet again, our library is under threat due to the recent round of budget cuts.
The challenge faced by Mirfield library today is to continue to be the kind of place Andrew Carnegie envisaged when he founded and funded public libraries.
Carnegie considered libraries should be:
Places that give people a chance, a second chance and even a third chance.
Places that serve and improve the communities they are based in.
Places that respond to the needs of the local people by giving them the opportunity to live fuller lives, make more of what they have, discover new worlds and aspire to greater things.
This may sound a little ‘old fashioned,’ but the basic principles remain and still apply to Mirfield Library.
Libraries are known to have a great impact on the wellbeing of the community by being:
A social hub – providing services for the elderly, promoting health awareness, connecting people through social activities etc
A cultural centre – book clubs, access to CDs, DVDs, exhibition space for arts and crafts, local and family history, printing services etc
An education/learning hub – books, a safe place for homework, IT training, mums & tods, basic reading, offering assistance to people coping with learning difficulties, loneliness, dementia, dyslexia etc
Giving economic access – advice on benefits, CAB, employment, local authority, tourist office, computer skills etc
Friends are working hard to ensure that our library remains