My Catchphrases

Saturday 7 May 2011

Saturday Spotlight: Guest Post: Babara Mitchelhill: Why I'm Grateful to Libraries

Photobucket

Today's beautiful guest post is by the lovely Babara Mitchelhill Author of Run Rabbit Run - thank you for the wonderful post Babara

Why I’m grateful to libraries.


Libraries have changed so much since I was small (a long time ago). I remember the one in the town centre in Rochdale which was a bus ride away from home and I had to make a real effort to go there. It was in a Victorian building, very quiet and not very welcoming. But by the time my daughters were born – how they had changed. Our library was local, warm and bright and a delightful place to be. We went there so often while that we almost wore out the carpet. For me, it was a great social place where the girls could happily mull over their books while I met other mums and could slip over to the adult section and find books for myself.

I’ve always loved books and when I started writing for children, librarians became my friends. I’d turn to them when researching a book. For instance, when I was thinking about writing my latest book, Run Rabbit Run, I talked with librarians about WW2 novels that were available and which they considered the best/most popular and I went away with an armful to pore over. Documents and precious archives are also immensely useful to me and so I’m grateful for my libraries (I have a few to choose from) for many reasons.

They are irreplaceable.

When Lizzie’s dad refuses to fight in the Second World War, the police come looking to arrest him. Desperate to stay together, Lizzie and her brother Freddie go on the run with him, hiding from the police in idyllic Whiteway.
But when their past catches up with them, they’re forced to leave and it becomes more and more difficult to stay together as a family. Will they be able to? And will they ever find a place, like Whiteway, where they will be safe again?

Check out Babara's website here
Follow Babara on Twitter here

2 comments:

  1. Another really interesting post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love these posts on libraries! I think they've changed a lot over the years as well - I remember being told off by a librarian for making too much noise in the children's section, and now when my boys go in they're absolutely encouraged to have fun and think of libraries as fun places to go, which, of course, I think they are. (as do my boys!)

    ReplyDelete

 
Blog Design by Use Your Imagination Designs all images form the Very Own World kit by Irene Alexeeva