Cllr Barry Abraham opens Niton’s new library.
THE VIEW FROM HERENITON Library would have been doomed to closure if the council had had anything to do with it. However, thanks to the commitment and determination of the library’s supporters, it now has a bright future.
The council had consigned it to the every-growing scrapheap of things it says it can’t afford (loos, libraries, day centres, practically anything which adds to the sum of human happiness) but a volunteer force stepped in to save this important village facility.
If these people were not prepared to give up considerable amounts of time in learning how the library works and keeping it open for the sake of its many users, Niton would have lost an asset which provides not just library stock but a focus for its social wellbeing and sense of community.
But all is well and Niton’s new Edward Edwards library was opened last weekend.
Mr Edwards, a key campaigner for free libraries during the 19th century, would have had absolutely no truck with the IW Council.
He lived to see the Public Libraries Act made law in 1850 and it is particularly appropriate Niton should name its own library after him.
He lived in the village from 1876 until his death in 1886 and is buried in Niton Churchyard. Were he alive today, he would be marching up and down outside County Hall, telling them they were a bunch of cultural vandals.
So, despite the council’s complete lack of support, Niton has a library run by an excellent band of volunteers and named after a man who was a tireless champion of the public’s right to have free access to books.
And who did they get to open Niton’s new library? Somebody, you would have thought, who has been outraged by the widespread closure of public libraries.
Alan Bennett, perhaps, or Michael Morpurgo. Even a union official, mourning the loss of council jobs, would have done.
But no. Stepping forward to do the honours at the Edward Edwards Library was none other than Cllr Barry Abraham, cabinet member for fire, culture and residents’ services.
Note especially the word 'Culture’ in that grand title. This council has, in the past few months, done about as much for culture as repressive book-burners, which is perhaps why Cllr Abraham is in charge of fire as well.
Whose bright idea was this, to send a representative of the council which, left to its own devices, would have had Niton Library closed for good?
Nobody has owned up as yet but bets are being placed on Niton’s Cllr Dave Stewart as the man behind this clunking error of judgment.
Cllr Stewart would no doubt think it a great honour for the library to be graced by Cllr Abraham.
That whirring sound you can hear, incidentally, is Edward Edwards spinning in his grave.
Just remember this for better exam results
NO withdrawal symptoms so far after switching off Downton Abbey. I have heard the odd snippet of news from those still in thrall to this class-ridden farrago and gather they’re another servant down.
Oh my, who’s going to polish the crumpet dish now?
Far more pertinent to real life is a programme called Would I Lie To You? I don’t suppose Lord Fellowes watches it as it’s a comedy panel game and quite common but you can learn a lot of useful stuff from it.
The premise behind the show is one panellist reads out something purporting to be about themselves and the opposing team have to guess whether it’s true.
When actress Katherine Parkinson claimed to have answered "Womble" when asked in her GCSE biology exam to name a mammal, the other contestants were rightly incredulous. She insisted it was true. What’s more, she’d passed the exam. With an A grade.
That decided it. She might have been daft enough to think Wombles were GCSE-standard mammals but they’d have failed her on the spot. Certainly not given her a top grade. The opposing team duly deemed her a liar.
As it happens, the entire story was true, which is surely all we need to know about exam standards these days.
But the Womble factor must also be considered in the light of the Island’s dismal exam results. If you can get an A grade by answering "Womble", then what sort of answers have our students been giving in order to produce such sub-standard results?
Can they have supposed a tellytubby is a mammal? Or a Dalek?
It’s very worrying. But let’s see what you can do next summer, kids. Forget the Tellytubbies. And if in doubt, just answer "Womble". That should get you the marks.