Find some cash to support Streetreads. Everyone deserves a library

Ian Rankin with Streetreads worker RickyIan Rankin with Streetreads worker Ricky
Ian Rankin with Streetreads worker Ricky
One of my pleasures in January is reading. Every year in the few weeks after Christmas, I pick up the obsessive reading habit I had as a child and young adult and devour books in a frenzied phase which starts to tail off in early February. By Valentine’s Day I am back to doom-scrolling social media.

I don’t read anything too high-brow. So far this year I have read one spy novel, two books by Guillaume Musso, a French crime writer I had not heard of until recently and Yellowface, a hilarious satire about the publishing industry.

I have just started Craig Brown’s biography of our dear, departed Queen and have a couple of crime novels queued up on my Kindle app. Books – even just the sight of them on shelves – comfort me. I have shelves of books in every room in my flat except the bathroom, and that is only because I have a walk-in shower instead of a bath. Have you tried reading Rebus in the shower?

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So my heart goes out to the users of the Streetreads Library who have suddenly found themselves without a safe space to read after their library was unexpectedly closed a few days ago.

The service, which was set up by the charity Simon Community Scotland at the height of the pandemic, offers people experiencing homelessness a sanctuary as well as books. As one of the library’s regular visitors told this newspaper: “It’s the only place where I feel human.”

Following its eviction from its Nicolson Street premises, the charity is looking for a new home for the library. An appeal has been set up to aid the move.

The cause has already attracted support from Edinburgh legend Ian Rankin and the city’s Makar (Poet Laureate), Michael Pedersen. He said he was awe-struck by the work of Streetreads, describing it as a “model for others to learn from. We need to be growing it, supporting it and celebrating it”.

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The city also needs to be funding it. You can make a donation via the Simon Community Scoltand website or its JustGiving page, but I hope the city council, which is responsible for Edinburgh’s library service, can find some cash to support Streetreads. Everyone deserves a library.

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