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Hull Central Library


I used to love this library
Love the imposed silence,  
Wander down the aisles in
A state of almost reverence.
I really can't believe it.
Is this the same place
Now light and airy
And so full of space?
Rows of metal shelving
Of books, videos and CD
Where in the near past
Just books used to be.
Books racked on tall
Dark oak shelved cases
Lined in rows forming
Narrow intimate places.

A place of dignity
A place of style
Where it  was a pleasure
Just to  browse for a while.
To absorb the aroma of
The volumes on display
Now any dignity seems
To have been thrown away.

All that steel shelving with
Brash modern looks
That just doesn't seem to
Hold half so many books.
And it seems to have lost
It's quiet welcoming air.
There no longer seems
Any atmosphere there.

They say these days
That libraries are dying
But it seems to me
They aren't really trying.
That once austere room
To quietly browse and read
Now seems to be soulless
And not fit for  need.
It wasn't ever broken
So it didn't need repair,
Just allowed to continue
With tender loving care.
Each time I go in I feel
Like I'm at a long wake,
Destruction by progress,
Just for progress's sake.







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