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People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.

If the library's rarest frequenters are the ones we'd like to see in them the most, then libraries are failing.

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.

For thousands and thousands of American kids, libraries are the only safe place they can find to study, a haven free from the dangers of street or the numbing temptations of television. As schools cut back services, the library looms even more important to countless children.

I have encountered those who feel that libraries have served their purpose and are no longer needed. There are those who consider them a soft target when it comes to local authority budget cuts. In certain political quarters, there is a refusal to see that our public library service needs active protection.

As a big user of public libraries, I deplore the cutbacks they have had to sustain.

The library is seen as a force for self improvement and the pursuit of knowledge. I fear that in many cases this is no longer true, if it ever was.

What is more important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is the fact that it exists.

A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it. That includes health information. And mental health information. It's a community space. It's a place of safety, a haven from the world.

I am not a librarian of my own work. It's a good thing not to be too involved with what you have done.