Libraries are hubs of the community.
There are more visitors to libraries
than to football matches, theatres or
cinemas, put together.
Public libraries are safe places, where everyone is welcome
and receives equal respect. You can read for pleasure, study,
look for jobs, learn a new skill, and if you can’t travel to the
library under your own steam, it comes to you through mobile
libraries, volunteers or the Internet.
Libraries bring people of all ages, genders, beliefs and political
convictions together. They provide free access to information and
ideas and are important bastions of democracy. Planners and
developers recognise this unifying role and many have put a public
library at the centre of new build and regeneration projects.
All public libraries have information about health, but there are more
specific examples of libraries’ contribution; where they hold
ante-natal classes, are located alongside health clinics, or work
with doctors who prescribe selfhelp books for patients through
the ‘books on prescription’ service.
