Sunday, February 6, 2011

5th February

What a day! Those who accuse CoatesWatch of being negative should have seen our happy smiling faces as we followed the press coverage, the read-ins and shhh-ins, the Twitter stream at #savelibraries and the Facebook activity, and the thousands of people who, even if there was no organised event, went to their local library to borrow books, use the services and show their support. We took part, locally and in modest ways.

One question: where in all this was the world's leading library campaigner? There is no evidence we can see that he took part in anything at all. The only change we can see is that the Good Library Blog now displays a besotted tribute from Boyd Tonkin, describing our hero as a 'modernising four-star general' and a 'key strategist'. We would be wary of these epithets. For this government, as for the last, to 'modernise' something is to close it down.

The description of him as a general reminds us of the story of the private fleeing the battle front in World War I? Eventually, panting, he stops for a rest. 'What's the matter with you, man?' booms a voice. 'Don't you salute when you see a general?' 'Blimey' replies the soldier, 'I didn't know I'd run that far'.

 

1 comment:

  1. Even James Christie, normally a strong supporter, has asked in comments over at the Good Library Blog, what, if anything, Tim did on the glorious 5th.
    What did you do in the war, Daddy?

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