What are small stones?
What are Small Stones?
Small stones are an observed moment,
written down. My small stones were initially inspired by the River of Stones
project each January, which sees hundreds of people observing a moment or
experience in their day and writing it down for the month. They can then be
shared on blogs, Facebook, Twitter or just written in a notebook, on a pebble,
the loo roll... To find out more about the flow of this simple movement to bring
more presence and awareness into our lives, check out the following link: http://www.writingourwayhome.com/p/small-stones.html
Borrowing books...on borrowed time?
Turned away from the counter
to the new machines which
have replaced someone's work.
To scan barcodes and collect receipts
so that I can borrow and bring back books
without having to once speak
or look at a single person.
Anger, grief, for the soul
of the library which is dying.
This screen with a cartoon face (user-friendly)
mocking our humanity (not yet digitised).
I savour the weight of the books in my bag,
wondering how long before they
and this building are sold out
to the highest bidder, more pages
of a community torn out.
 |
| A hand-stamped page! |
You are so right, Fran.
ReplyDeleteI was always V glad I ran teeny weeny Thaxted library sans any computers! My customers needed far more than a book or three...........
Please, keep on 'ranting' XXXx
ps And I could too, IF we had those auto check-outs at Portree Co-op, such as I saw on the tele the other night (another justifiable rant by a good bloke!) Reckon P & I will go hungry whenever we next come south?!
Yes, libraries are about so much more than the books. And I've been seeing a lot more of the auto-checkouts in shops around here too. Sigh! At least we still get a lovely personal greeting from our postie, who now knows us enough to ring his bell when he passes us in the street! No doubt plans are being hatched as I write, to get us collecting our post from automated collection machines in Tesco's or something... Thanks for your comments Sara xxxx
ReplyDeleteOh! I hate those new library machines! I used to love chatting to the librarian about the books we'd chosen and have her recommend others we might like. I loved how she always asked Hannah about the books she brought back and told her about the books she liked................so sad to have to auto check-out now!
ReplyDelete