“A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life-raft and a festival. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead.” Caitlin Moran
February is National Library Lovers’ Month so we’re looking at the importance of libraries to loyalist communities. Libraries are free, safe, public space where anyone can go, read a book on any subject, get online, check up on local news, and join a group on knitting, poetry, and mindfulness to name just a few of the options available. They are the only kind of public space in many of our towns and cities where there is no expectation to spend money to be there. This makes libraries particularly important to working class communities.
Public Libraries are a living embodiment of the Principles of Loyalism which are material wellbeing, civil and religious freedom, equal citizenship within the United Kingdom and the use of armed resistance to maintain access to the first three principles. Libraries do this by quietly showcasing an alternative to the capitalist market by distributing resources according to need, not greed, and the scarcity of popular items is fairly regulated by waiting lists. All the library’s resources are owned and shared by the community, and so each library can be seen as a mission post demonstrating an alternative economic system based on a guaranteed level of material wellbeing and equal citizenship.
As well as providing a basic level of material wellbeing libraries also contribute to civil and religious freedom and equal citizenship. Through the wide range of groups and activities libraries offer in highly localised settings, libraries create opportunities for diverse communities living in the same area to meet each other in shared, neutral space everyone has equal access to. This has been linked to the development of tolerance and a positive impact on democracy. Libraries are also standing in for other stretched public services. This is demonstrated by Libraries NI’s mindfulness sessions and Yoga sessions which will have a positive impact on mental and physical health. The range of services provided by libraries demonstrates their indispensable importance for working class communities.
“You want weapons? We’re in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room’s the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!” Russell T. Davies (writer for Dr. Who and creator of It’s a Sin)
The use of libraries as type of armed resistance can be seen by their use during the Second World War and by Loyalist Prisoners during the Troubles. In the 1940s libraries, along with pretty much everything else were recruited into contributing to the war effort. People were encouraged to “read for victory” by using library resources and their leisure time to meet the challenges of the Home Front and the possibility of invasion. Libraries pushed books on cookery to make rations stretch, first aid, and radio communications. Reading was presented as a kind of civic duty to help people retrain in wartime skills. The power of the library as an emancipatory space is perhaps best demonstrated by Loyalist prisoner’s utilisation of prison libraries to complete the education many of them had been denied when they were teenagers. The prison and state authorities were frequently opposed to this and prisoners such a Billy Hutchinson campaigned for educational access as a kind of resistance to the classist views many middle-class unionists held about loyalists. The examples of libraries as home front information arsenals and emancipatory spaces for loyalist prisoners illustrate an important alternative to the narrow understanding of armed resistance as physical violence and comes close to the Loyalist Feminist understanding of armed resistance as arming ourselves with emancipatory feminist knowledge. You can find out more about our understanding of security here.
“I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free.” Ta-Nehisi Coates
Libraries are free centres of knowledge, equality, and community, serving as practical examples of an alternative to the capitalist system. Libraries build strong communities by fostering social connections and offering equal access to resources. By supporting our libraries we are living the principles of loyalism in action by supporting an institution which can help to create a more equitable society. As we celebrate National Library Lovers’ Month, let us all recognize the transformative power of libraries as working class spaces and commit to ensuring their continued presence in our communities.
Celebrate National Library Lovers’ Month by signing up for an upcoming group at your local library, take a book out, or help someone you know register for a library card.
