I was nine at the time when I joined our town’s library to read those books that opened up the world.
We lived in the West Midlands, Dad was a postman, mum a housewife. It was a two up and two down house with no electricity, central heating, hot running water, or outside loo.
I won a county minor scholarship to the local Grammar School where I expanded into an educated personality.
The school provided a standard and expansive education and I gained a good CV as well as entry to university to study life sciences, which opened a new career.
But we had no room at home to study, the library and the librarians kindly provided space and a table for me to have access to understanding and knowledge of the kind essential for the education I received at Grammar School.
Here I gained my appreciation of academia and the paths of success. I owe much to a library as it was the pathway to my satisfying and fulfilled life. I wonder how the future disadvantaged youngster will be able to escape the shackles of social weaknesses of the past.
Kenneth Sale
