Allow me to join the chorus of libraries, patrons, writers, and pretty much everyone else announcing their confusion over Terry Deary’s frankly baffling opinions on libraries.
What rebuttal can a body make to a person operating under such a bizarrely misinformed conception of what libraries do? Is he under the impression that libraries steal books and give them away, like some Robin Hood-inspired institution, rather than purchasing them (occasionally en masse, in the cases of titles like Harry Potter or, bless it, Fifty Shades of Grey) like anyone else? Is he unaware of the vital services public libraries provide to people who–shock!–can’t afford to buy every book, DVD, or CD they’re interested in? Does he truly believe that libraries are the cause of bookstores shutting down? The world may never know.
This is the sort of fact-free, crazypills blather I expect from regressive pundits on FOX, not established authors. And I don’t know about you, but as a kid I was quite a fan of the Horrible Histories series. Sad to see its creator spewing misdirected diatribes.
It’s a shame when those who should be supporting libraries (everyone) and be fully supporting their necessity are the ones espousing ignorant causes like this. In response I say, “Keep yer hands off my liberrys”.
An author I admire, N.K. Jemisin, was discussing this article and Deary’s remarks on Twitter this morning. She pointed out that writers are especially indebted to libraries, because reading is such a core component of writing. It’s sad to see an author attack an institution which presumably has aided him in his career.