This is Nottingham --TERRY Deary writes wonderful books. His children's history series inexplicably manage to be both hilarious and educational, and has inspired many people to discover more about history, including myself.
In February this year he lent his opinion to the extensive debate over the future of our public libraries.
He said they had "had their day" and no longer made economic sense.
If Mr Deary had visited a Nottingham library recently, he would see that he is missing the point.
At an event in a Nottingham library last year I saw a small girl crouched behind her father, who was using a computer. She was sobbing. He was repeatedly telling her to shut up.
Eventually I couldn't bear it and asked her if she'd like to have her face painted. She was apparently unable to speak so I mimed a butterfly on my face and pointed towards the table where we were painting the faces of the children in the library.
She sat incredibly still while we painted a purple butterfly on her face, and spent the rest of her time at the library reading and joining in with other activities.
We did colouring, and painted lots of stars on her face, whilst learning the words for star ("staar!") and butterfly.
Well, nearly. It was closer to; "buterlfe". She didn't want to leave the library that day.
I once worked in a Nottingham library where a group of children and their mothers would arrive most days, buggies in tow, and sit and read in the children's section.
The library staff would help the children read, and choose new books. I heard later that these families had been affected by drug-dealing and addiction. The library was their solace.
At Tots' Time in a Nottingham library I met a small boy who had never been to the library before.
He was sullen, sad, and withdrawn, refusing to join in with any of the games or songs with the other children. He just wanted to throw things.
After a while, I offered him a Peppa Pig book, and snorted to demonstrate. He was initially suspicious, then smiled, and sat down, snorting and smiling like Peppa every time we turned a page. He didn't want to leave the library that day.
Libraries are not ours. They are not Terry Deary's; they are not the Chancellor's. They are theirs.
Deary complains that as a society we have "this idea that we've got an entitlement to read books for free", and he's right.
We do have an entitlement. We have a right, heck, a need for these fantastical places that so openly and uncompromisingly offer themselves to the people who need somewhere where ideas and words and care are free – where they can take something precious home without ever having earned it.
Carl Sagan once said that "the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." In the UK, 348 libraries are currently under threat or have been closed since April 2012. In Nottingham, Wilford's mobile library, itself a replacement for the closed village library, is set to close. We are being tested.
Deary says libraries "have been around too long". I say they cannot be around long enough, and that they do not belong to him.
They do not belong to you, or me. They belong to the girl with the butterfly face and the boy with the smile, and we must protect them.
Caitlin, 18, is a student at Bilborough College. Reported by This is 1 day ago.