Mariam Kamish, Caerphilly Trades Union Council secretary
“Blackwood Miners’ Institute is staying open”, I told the meeting, “because people fought for it. Why not Aber Library? If we fight, we can win.”
Eagerness wiped frustration off the faces around the room. “Put down your details”, I said, writing my own and passing on the sheet. “You can’t do that here”, said the council official leading the meeting. “Oh, yes, we can”.
We’d been sparring with her for half an hour. Now, it was some for action. Ignoring her, we chatted as the sheet went around.
Working-class history
This valley has history. We had a fighting anti-poll-tax union. Windsor Colliery. Universal Colliery, before that. Great-grandparents told stories about the 1926 General Strike.
In the next days, we organised. Our first meeting was in the car park. The council wouldn’t let us meet inside the library.
Lowri, Year 6, came on her scooter. “I don’t want the library to close. I come every day.” “I’ll take a pile of posters up the school”, said Rhiannon.
“Both schools use the library”, a young father told us. “They bring the kids over a class at a time”.
The meeting had ended, when four 15-year-olds rushed up. “Have we missed the protest?”
The library means so much. People borrow books. Toddlers use the soft play area. ‘Knit and chat’ meets. Kids do their homework. People of all ages use the computers – meet their friends. It’s the only place we have.
Aber Library was once a shed. Now, it’s a beautiful building – and the Labour council wants to close it. We won’t let them!
The council has £187 million in reserves. They don’t need to close libraries, leisure centres, or anything else. They should dip into reserves as a temporary measure – while banding together with other councils to demand the Labour government provides the money we need.
