Maggie Brookes-Butt on how Southgate Library helped her become a successful journalist and novelist

What lights the spark which makes someone a writer?

For me it was Southgate Library. My whole life as a journalist, BBC TV producer, lecturer, novelist and poet would have been different if Southgate Library hadn’t existed.

When I was a child we didn’t own many books, but I was taken to the library by my parents, and when I was old enough I went myself, every Saturday. I must have borrowed thousands of books, and discovered the joy of writing my own stories and poems.

So I’m horrified to hear that Southgate is one of eight libraries earmarked by Enfield Council for possible closure.

When I was in my teens I discovered the library was a safe, quiet environment to do my homework. As a result, I was the first person in my family to go to university. It is even more essential these days for school pupils without work space at home or a computer of their own.

Now I am the author of two internationally-published novels and six collections of poetry, and every week I take my two-year-old granddaughter to the library. She knows already that it’s full of worlds of adventures.

At a time when one-in-five children have no books at home, libraries are more important than they’ve ever been. If eight libraries in Enfield are closed, the opportunity to walk or cycle to a library will be denied to many children, and the number of cars on the road will increase as people drive to the main hubs.

Southgate Library is also extensively used by older people as a warm, peaceful haven to read books and newspapers and, with fuel prices due to rise again, that is more a public service than ever. The closure of small libraries will discriminate against the young, pensioners and disabled people who may not have the means to travel further afield.

Enfield Council is threatening to close eight libraries: Southgate, Winchmore Hill, Oakwood, Bullsmoor, Enfield Highway, Enfield Island Village, Bowes Road and John Jackson (Bush Hill Park). They hope to save around £630,000 per year, and make millions in land sales, valuing money over culture and education.

Southgate is full of assets to the community which have closed and gone forever. The land at The Grange was left to the council ‘for the use of the people of Southgate’ – but was sold for offices. There are also blue plaques telling us there used to be a village hall and a cinema in the area. Soon, perhaps, there will be blue plaques in Southgate High Street telling us there used to be a library and a youth centre.

Instead of closing libraries, Enfield Council needs to advertise what amazing things they are, with signs saying ‘free books’, ‘free internet’, ‘free advice’, ‘quiet place’, ‘community meeting space’. We need libraries more than ever and we need them close to our homes.

Sign the ‘Save Enfield’s Libraries’ petition:
Visit change.org/p/save-enfield-s-libraries

Take part in Enfield Council’s libraries consultation before 14^th November:
Visit enfield.gov.uk/consultations/library-consultation

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