An open letter from local authors

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To David Mellen, Nottingham City Council  

Nottingham is a UNESCO City of Literature. It needs a strong and splendid library service. Our Central Library has been closed for two years now and whilst we look forward to it eventually opening on its new site, neighbourhood libraries need to stay open and flourish, particularly in less affluent areas and particularly in areas where English is not the first language in many homes. These areas and the people who live there need opportunities, the same opportunities our City gave people when it became the first place in Britain to open a children's library. 

If local libraries are closed, many users will be unable to have access to the library service. Time, transport difficulties, disability, caring responsibilities and many other reasons would mean that a substantial proportion of the city’s population were excluded from library use. Some schools would be forced to stop their visits, resulting in many children not being introduced to libraries.  A library service which is inaccessible to a significant number of council tax payers is not an adequate library service. Libraries offer books and support literacy and the imagination. That alone makes them essential. But they also offer far, far more. 

• A chance to talk with someone if you've been alone all week. 
• A place of warmth and safety. 
• A source of information, especially if you can't afford the internet. 
• A place to take your children that costs nothing, and where they can begin to learn the joy of reading. 
• An opportunity to use the internet to apply for jobs, housing, benefits and whatever else has to be done online – with help from kind staff. 
• A centre for the community. Meeting rooms, photocopying, computers, children’s stories and rhymes, and other resources. 
• A place for children to do their homework in peace, surrounded by learning resources and enough space to spread out. Somewhere to do research. 
• A destination for school visits.  

I am signing this letter as one of over one hundred local writers, industry professionals or people otherwise involved in the world of books. We have all benefited from libraries at different times in our lives, as borrowers, as writers whose books are on library shelves, as publishers, as people who have attended or spoken at library events.  

We call on Nottingham City Council to support its status as a UNESCO City of Literature by stopping these library closures. It would be better still if the City Council were to use this opportunity to reach out to those who do not yet use libraries, particularly from minority communities in those areas, to involve them in the library provision - to let our buildings and our library staff flourish.

Signed by:

Maggie Allison - writer, Jacob Andrews - writer, Catharine Arnold - writer, Chris Arnot - writer, former journalist at Nottingham Evening Post, Deborah Bailey - author, John Baird - Notts Lit blog, Alan Baker - publisher of Leafe Press and Litter magazine, Panya Banjoko - poet, Andy Barrett - writer, Susan E Barsby - author, Bearded Badger Publishing, David Belbin - writer, Kathleen Bell - writer, Andreas Bieler - writer, Vic Blake - poet, Bridget Blankley - YA author, Stephen Booth - crime writer, Ross Bradshaw - bookseller and publisher (Five Leaves), Linda Brady - writer, Clare Brown - writer, Bob Cann - Ex-Libris, book sales for charities, Chris Cook Cann - Ex-Libris, book sales for charities, Graham Caveney - writer, Alastair Clark - feature film producer, Rosie Collins - Nottingham Women's History Group, Stephan Collishaw - Writer and owner of the small press, Noir Press, Andrew Cooper - DH Lawrence Society (personal capacity), Emma Craddock - writer, Becky Cullen - poet,  Anne Darby - disability rights organiser and writer, Roberta Dewa - writer, Joanne Dixon - writer, Ian C Douglas - writer, Sue Dymoke - writer, Michael Eaton - playwright, Rowena Edlin-White, researcher and writer, Jonathan Emmett - children's writer, Lee Stuart Evans - TV comedy writer and novelist, Ruth Fainlight - writer, Tommy Farmyard - Nottingham Poetry Festival, Susan Finlay - writer, Coleen Francis - writer,  Neil Fulwood - writer, Rosie Garner - poet, John Goodridge - history writer, Dr Rich Goodson - writer, Norma Gregory - Black history writer, Nottingham News Centre, Rebecca Gregory - history writer, Cathy Grindrod - writer, Mike Hamlin - education writer, Dr Steve Hanson - writer, Rebekah Hemmens - writer, Elain Harwood - architectural historian, Clare Harvey - writer, Pippa Hennesy - writer and publisher, Dr David Hindley - author, Stephen L Holland (Comics Laureate 2021-2023), co-creator/curator of Page 45, Anne Holloway - Big White Shed/Nottingham Poetry Festival, William Ivory - writer for film and TV, Miriam Jackson - Nottingham Women's History Group, Joshua Judson - poet, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason - writer, Anne Kimuyu - writer, Cathy Le Surf - musician, Giselle Leeb - writer, Thomas Legendre - academic and novelist, Alan Lodge - freelance photographer, Patrick Limb - Chair, Nottingham City of Literature, John Lucas - author and publisher (Shoestring Press), Robert McFarlane - nature writer, Sue McFarlane - poet,  Vron McIntyre - poet, Lisa McKenzie - writer, Maresa MacKeith - writer, Rod Madocks - writer, Eve Makis - writer, Chris Matthews - local history and planning writer, Leanne Moden - poet, Jamie Mollart - writer, Alison Moore - writer, Gareth Morgan - writer, Henry Normal - screenwriter and poet, Nottingham Writers Studio - board members - Alan Walker, Tracey Hylton, Hannah Gascoyne , Nick Sturgeon, Adam O'Connell, Steve Katon, Thom Seddon, Harry Paterson - music journalist and writer, Adam Penfold - Theatre Director, Gareth Peter - children's writer, Kathy Pimlott - poet, Pascale Quiviger - writer, Yvonne Radley - currently studying MA Creative Writing at NTU, Ronne Randall - children's writer, Peter Richardson - photographer, Elvire Roberts - poet, sign language interpreter, Frances Ryan - author and Guardian columnist, Manjit Sahota - poet, Shreya Sen-Handley - writer, Miranda Seymour - biographer, Farhana Shaikh - author and publisher (Dahlia Press), Jeff Sheard - local history writer, Alan Simpson - former MP for Nottingham South, author, Darren Simpson - young adult fiction writer, Tony Simpson - Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, David S Stewart OBE D.Litt.h.c. DL, Claire Storey - literary translator, Jenny Swann - Trustee of Nottingham City of Literature, Roger Tanner - local history writer, Andrew Taylor - writer, Megan Taylor - author,  Professor Andrew Thacker - Nottingham Trent University (personal capacity), Frances Thimann - former Librarian, writer, lifelong and constant library user, Christopher Towers - poet, Sian Trafford - Nottingham Women's History Group, Matt Turpin - Writer, journalist, editor, Tom Unterrainer - editor, Spokesman Books, Mrs Jai Verma - writer, Victoria Villasenor - Global Words publisher, Hazel Warren - DIY Poets and Papercranes (personal capacity), Dr Rory Waterman - Associate Professor of Modern & Contemporary Literature, Gail Webb - poet, Matthew Welton - poet, Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Andrew Whitehead - Visiting Professor at University of Nottingham (personal capacity), author, Felicity Whittle - Goldstar Tours, literary walks, Georgina Wilding - poet, Dave Wood - poet, Nick Wood - playwright, Felicity Woolf - writer, Professor Gregory Woods - writer, Trevor Wright - Trustee, Nottingham City of Literature