Jacqueline Wilson on 'Meet the Author'

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I just finished watching 'Meet the Author' with Nick Higham at the end of the BBC News. Tonight's guest was the wonderful Jacqueline Wilson talking about (among a number of things) her new book, 'Lily Alone'. Wilson is well-known for writing children's books with a different approach to the old familiar Enid Blyton-type, with heroine's who have more than their fair share of challenge in life at very young ages. In 'Lily Alone', 11 year old Lily finds herself taking care of three younger siblings while her feckless mother runs off to Spain for a week with her new boyfriend. While Lily copes amazingly well, of course, things don't go to plan.
One of the most important things I want to point out about this interview, were Wilson's comments on the importance of public libraries. We should all be well familiar now with the danger libraries are in within the budget constraints, not just in the UK, but in countries world-wide. And yesterday, Saturday 5th February, there was a national day of action in the UK to speak out about the wide-spread closures of public libraries. For example, on the Isle of Wight, they stand to lose 9 out of their 11 public libraries. Some areas may be left with no libraries at all. Keeping in mind that libraries may be the only access some children have to books due to their life circumstances, this would be a wide-spread tragedy. After speaking about her concern for the libraries' fate, Wilson said 'If it were up to me, libraries would be the last thing I would cut.'

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