Rae of Light

Support into the early hours The #carnegieoccupation has been ongoing for 7 days now.  And it’s trending in 19 th place on Twitter.  Don’t think Lambeth was expecting that. On Monday evening Ruskin Readers went along to the library at our usual time to see if security would let us in to the building to do the vital adult literacy work we’ve been doing for the last 40 years. Unsurprisingly, we were denied entry.  Our stock of books, laptops and folders are trapped in the library and we cannot gain access to any of them (all locks in the building were changed by Lambeth before the planned closure on 31 st March).  Once we do gain access to all of this we will then have to mull over the problem of where to store 2 cupboard’s worth of necessaries. After joining in the vigil on the steps of the library, interviews by London Live and photo opportunities, students and tutors headed to the Cambria Pub for a pow wow.  We’ve still had very little ...

So, Lambeth Council have gone ahead with their plan to shut Carnegie library so they can turn it into a gym.  But they weren’t counting on members of the community fighting back in a style of protest Mahatma Gandhi would be proud of.  Approximately 30 people, including two babies and several teenagers are occupying the library as of this moment.  They have been doing so since Thursday evening with the support of the community. Several Labour councillors have hit back with very personal and cavalier comments about the occupiers.  The most inappropriate of these being the cat tweets by the councillor Alex Bigham.  You can see his full twitter response on Brixton Buzz . Another complained that the occupiers were quaffing wine during their occupation and had scant feeling for homeless children.  As someone who has personally  housed a homeless person through a project with Centrepoint and donated one of those bottles of wine, ...

  Adult Literacy at Carnegie Library is on the eve of its 41st Birthday in May 2016.  Despite this astounding legacy, Lambeth Council’s decision to close Carnegie Library on 31 st March now threatens this heritage.  Ruskin Readers provides one to one tuition for adults with special learning difficulties using trained volunteers, under the guidance of a Supervising Tutor.  It operates out of Carnegie Library free of charge (nor does the club charge for its services).  Carnegie’s friendly and supportive atmosphere, its complex of rooms, large and small has been the ideal location for the club’s needs.  Over the years, it has been a venue which has generated considerable affection from tutor and volunteer alike; an affection which has been sustained and nurtured to this day. Founded as Amity Reading Clubs in 1977, the Adult Literacy club became Ruskin Readers in 2006.  While it is independent of its founder members, Ru...