Kingston Pupils Need Better Libraries

As revision time looms over students preparing to take exams next month, a calm place to maximise their learning is hard to find. Especially with distractions appearing in the form of televisions, mobile phones and games consoles, the place that many people go to is the library. With a variety of resources, a quiet environment and people to help you with your learning, the library is the ideal place to revise. However, students in the borough of Kingston Upon Thames are disadvantaged. There have been many complaints of the libraries around the area and of their substandard quality.

The New Malden library, for example, has been seen as too small and low on resources. Compared to libraries outside the borough, New Malden only has a few computers resulting in queues to use them which can be a waste of time that students preciously need. Furthermore they are somewhat lacking even in the book department; there have been several cases where students have been referred to other libraries as their desired books are not in the catalogue. On top of this the building hosts dim lighting systems which in itself is making life very hard for pupils who need to read and write inside.

Other libraries in the borough suffer in the same ways and do not provide the services that their students deserve. Many have been known to visit other libraries in the neighbouring boroughs such as the one in Sutton. The Sutton Central library boasts a multitude of services including clubs, such as book groups, computers and a coffee bar.

However, it is important to appreciate the amount of libraries that exist in the Kingston Borough. There are seven libraries and although they are not ideal for the students, they are definitely better than nothing. In February this year there were proposed plans to close libraries across the country to reduce spending and help release the financial restrictions that we have suffered. Local councils currently have an obligation to provide libraries for their residents; ministers believe that this law should be scrapped due to the social changes such as the surge of the internet: a faster way to attain information for some. If the law is abolished the libraries are certain to close down, that would prove a huge loss to many pupils who have no other place to study. The borough needs to improve their libraries by increasing facilities rather than close them.

Obviously not only students use the library, it should be a place where the community comes together for events and therefore should be both comfortable and resourceful. Being so vital for the community, the library definitely cannot be scrapped. On the contrary they need to be kept open but the fact still remains that improvements are desperately needed. Maybe then, the importance of the library can be seen and all can take advantage of them.