Newspapers and public libraries have a lot in common - Catherine Salmond

Newspapers – and their websites – if produced properly, are much like libraries.

They are both a place of reference; somewhere to have views challenged, to be inspired, entertained, to laugh, reflect, cry, listen, look and think.

Newspapers are a vital part of the fabric of our society – just like libraries.

And our worlds are very much intertwined. After all, newspapers – in print and in digital form – of course, eventually make their way to libraries, where our words, pictures and multimedia are carefully stored to become a source of reference for generations to come – an official record of times gone by.

Maureen Cannell with her grandchildren outside Whiteinch Library in Glasgow. Picture: John Devlin

I was honoured to speak at the start of last week about Support our Libraries – the Scotland on Sunday campaign launched last August to fight for the future of our public libraries.

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) held its annual conference in Dundee and featured some of the most passionate and inspiring people I have ever met, sharing this newspaper’s values that a better Scotland – a more just and fairer Scotland – can only come about through education for all.

So many of them have been supportive of our campaign – hence the fact I was invited to speak – with many telling me no media outlet has given them such a voice in recent years.

We launched when (too) many of Scotland’s public libraries remained closed after the pandemic, vowing to fight for their reopening and their long-standing futures.

I was thrilled to hear librarians from Glasgow say that without our campaign, they believe the five libraries in the city – closed right up until January 2022 – would never have reopened.

They stressed the impact we had in putting pressure on the local authority and the voice we gave to those local campaigners who were working tirelessly to try to get the facilities back up and running.

Thousands of people have been impacted by these libraries being reopened and I am grateful to all our readers who have given their support.

Campaigning has long been a key role of the media – and it must remain so. We will continue to fight for properly funded public libraries. Access to libraries should be a right for every Scot in 2022.

Catherine Salmond is editor of Scotland on Sunday