Mariam Kamish, Caerphilly Trades Union Council secretary
High Court judges do not like to overrule local authority decisions. Library campaigners have been discussing the fact that we couldn’t rely on the courts.
Still, for most people, the ruling against us was a shock. Not least because it came in the middle of the summer recess. The judge was meant to be on holiday until October.
Was someone trying to wrongfoot our campaign? If so, they haven’t succeeded. We’d already been travelling around all ten libraries, gathering footage for a DIY documentary to boost public awareness and involve more people in the ten areas.
When the BBC came calling after the court ruling, a number of people from the affected areas came at very short notice with banners and placards.
We met more people on the day at Nelson library – where the BBC chose to film – outraged at the threat to their library, and keen to get involved in the campaign.
Elle, who runs the nearby café, has offered to make it the local base for the campaign. Her dad, John, worked at Trelewis Drift Colliery. He spent ten months during the miners’ strike travelling around picketing, including taking part in the occupation of the cranes at Port Talbot. John is full of ideas for the campaign. And he’s volunteering for action.
Ten-year-old Everett told the camera: “I love Nelson library. I’ll be devastated if they close this. I mean, where’ll we get books from?”
In my interview, I issued a challenge to Jamie Pritchard, the Labour leader of Caerphilly Council.
“Come around all ten libraries with the campaign. Meet the people involved. See what these lovely spaces are all about.”
“We don’t want you to close anything else or cut anything else to keep the libraries open – and you don’t need to. Caerphilly Council’s reserves are the largest in Wales.
“We stand on TUC (Trades Union Congress) Cymru policy. We call on councils to set needs-based, no-cuts budgets. If you were to take that position, Jamie Pritchard, you’d be the most popular person in Caerphilly.”
In closing, I told the BBC: “We are going to fight this, and we are going to win.”
