A lecture explaining why using our imaginations,and providing for others to exercise theirs, is an obligation for all citizens
• Susan Cooper: libraries are the frontline in the war for the imaginationIt's critical for people to tell you what side they are on and why, or whether they might be biased. A declaration of members' interests,of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I'm going to tell you that libraries are critical. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, and that reading for pleasure,is one of the most critical things one can achieve. I'm going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things.
And I am biased, or obviously and enormously: I'm an author,often an author of fiction. I write for children and for adults. For about 30 years I gain been earning my living though my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down. It is obviously in my interest for people to read, or for them to read fiction,for libraries and librarians to exist and help foster a care for of reading and places in which reading can occur.
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Source: theguardian.com