       

Put libraries in education budget, says Author Jeanette Winterson

Speech: Jeanette Winterson will call for libraries to be protected<br>Picture: Mykel Nicolaou/Rex Features
CAPTION TEXT

Author Jeanette Winterson will tonight say it is wrong for libraries to be fighting for cash with sports centres in council leisure budgets when they are crucial for literacy.

In a speech at the British Library to mark the first decade of The Reading Agency charity, the novelist will argue that libraries should be placed under the national educational budget.

“Libraries are doing more education work than ever. Libraries and literacy cannot be separated.  I don’t see how this can be classed as ‘leisure’ nor do I see how we have a choice between getting our bins emptied and putting cash into libraries,” she is expected to say.

Winterson, 53, will suggest the rows over library budget cuts are putting the future of the service at risk and will call for the Government to promote libraries positively. 

She will also ask whether “the life of the mind” is only “for the right kids at the right schools” and only “when we are rich, powerful, wealthy”.

Speaking to guests expected to include top authors Julian Barnes, David Nicholls and Sarah Waters, she will suggest that it should be a priority “whatever we are”.

The Reading Agency has pledged to create 10 million opportunities for adults and children to read.

Comments

Property search

ES Rentals

    Don't Miss
    Homeless veterans: We launch our Christmas appeal to help the heroes without a home

    Homes for heroes

    We launch our Christmas appeal to help homeless veterans
    'I've softened a lot over the years': Naomi Campbell on happiness, her acting career and Cara Delevingne

    Going soft

    Supermodel Naomi Campbell on happiness, her acting career and Cara Delevingne
    Rita Ora dares to bare in revealing denim dress at the launch of Rockins For Eyeko

    Dare to bare

    Rita in revealing denim dress at Rockins For Eyeko launch
    It's grand in Clapham now: Fay Maschler visits The Manor

    Clapham grand

    Restaurant of the Week: Fay Maschler finds a significant new addition south of the river
    'A novel solution to the boredom of the morning commute': The world's longest urban trampoline planned for central London

    Bounce to work

    World's longest urban trampoline planned for central London
    Taylor Swift: 'I just shake off the haters and surround myself with real friends'

    Shake it Off

    Taylor Swift on friends and fame
    Michael Buerk set to quit I'm A Celebrity and 'deeply regrets' going into the jungle

    Get me out!

    Michael Buerk set to quit I'm A Celebrity
    The power of un: how apps can help reverse your tech mistakes

    The power of un

    Technology: how apps can help reverse your tech mistakes
    Imelda May, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire - music review: 'Punkish brio and retro rock 'n' roll from a rockabilly star'

    Retro rockabilly

    FOUR STARS: Imelda May at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire - music review
    Pictures: Party people - the stars out in London

    Party people

    The stars out in London
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/put-libraries-in-education-budget-says-author-jeanette-winterson-8329003.html
www.standard.co.uk
crawl=CC-MAIN-2014-49
178342
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:5HQ23ZFNNX4FR34IEKABESSIJZZHDQAX
<urn:uuid:c1e94f28-9f2d-440e-ba84-415b39bd4590>
2014-11-26T17:47:01Z
23.62.6.216
sha1:5UCCDHIZGUJW2OQP7MTSFRZM2XZUEPMV
<urn:uuid:0bd389eb-d16f-4689-940e-961b1bac9a81>
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/put-libraries-in-education-budget-says-author-jeanette-winterson-8329003.html
response
<urn:uuid:862ed45a-e9d2-47cd-879a-ed2052f7b8de>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-49
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for November 2014
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf