POP THIS in the post?

I was listening to You & Yours on Radio 4 today, as it was a phone in about libraries, and how easy it would be to replace them with other services.

There was a man, Richard someone, who was on the 'close them' side. I fear he was involved with closure. He had some bizarre ideas.

One was: You can have a pool of books, audiobooks (only a disk, he said. A disk? Has he seen an audio book recently?) CDs, DVD's etc, and just pop them into the post. Lovely. Cheap, easy, quick. Oh yes?

This is the selection I chose this afternoon. They would take some posting.
I listen to audio books a lot, this is not all the ones I have out. One plays in the kitchen, and I have another for bed, and a third for when I am working. I cant be carting them all over the house, so enjoy the different story stations here and there.

I read the odd library novel too, even though I have many many unread books of my own. I could not resist the new Tremain.
And the CDs are a bargain at £1.60 a week.

His second theory was that we could just download books, music etc, from the library, (if they were not posted) to listen to and so on.
When the BBC asked what about people who did not have the right computers, or even any computers for this, he said, Oh, they can be given Kindles. I have not heard a Kindle read out an audiobook. Maybe I am out of date?

So, in 5 minutes, Richard suggested we all get free Kindles, and there are to be massive warehouses, like Amazon, I suppose, posting books out to people, who then have to bundle them all up again, and post them back.

All, of course involving no contact with other people. Or maybe he will supply us with iPads. Now you're talking. (as if) Then the children could webcam each other and and have mother and children groups, all alone in their houses. Cosy, Richard. Thanks for that.

I live in a town, where the pubs are shutting like a plague city. Two in 14 days. There are not that many places for people to meet any more, or be in a room with another human being, that is not a shop, or one of the two, or is it three pubs.

Can Richard post a few people along to keep the lonely company?

They say we should stop being so Middle Class, and let the libraries go, or old people will be thrown to the lions. Children will be in unheated schools, the streets will crawl with rats, as all the rates will be going to run this corner of civilisation, this elitist, spoilt, unnecessary, frivolous indulgence, left over from the Victorian age. No mention of wage cuts for the people in charge, some who have over £100,000 a year. That seems a pretty middle class wage to me. Bit upper in fact. If they think the only people who should be served by the council are the working classes, then maybe these people should embrace the working class wage. Then they would need libraries too.

No one seemed to find it so difficult to buy the bombs and so on for Those 'Wars'. No one asked if we could afford them.
The wars we are told are to improve other people's lives. Sorry to sound selfish, but what about our lives and traditions?

I don't usually rant. Well, i do a bit. But the decline of the post, and the constant faceless world we live in, with a sea of menus every time we pick up a phone, or the tapping away for everything, is getting a bit wearing, and disheartening.
They now think we can have the libraries replaced with on line. Enough online.
I want to deal with a human being. I actually enjoy the company of people, (ignore the mat) and like to sit and brows through books with the sound of other people in a room. A real room, with real books, which I can dip into. I have no idea what I want until I get there. It is a surprise.
And there is no way I could afford to buy those audiobooks. They are from £10- £45 odd pounds.


I could go on for ages, I am being boring. But before I de-rant, can I ask anyone reading this, who has not already done so: Take your children for a good walk to the library, sign them up. And take then there once or twice a week. It will catch on, they will love it, and you will be doing us all, and your children, a favour.
(They do rent video games there too, so that could be a pull, and money saver).