Cherishing books - Access we can’t take for granted

AS those who quietly but assiduously undermine the Freedom of Information Act understand and fear, information is real power. Why else have the workings of NAMA been placed outside the remit of the act?

If you have any doubt about how empowering information is ask one of the many MPs who lost their seat in Thursday’s British election because their loose understanding of what can be regarded as a legitimate expense was revealed and it enraged their constituents.

It was this informed anger that led to the highest voter turnout – an estimated 65% – since 1997. Ordinary people had information that reflected poorly on their political system and they responded accordingly. They forced change that might not have come had the voters been less informed.

If proportional representation is introduced in Britain to facilitate a coalition government then this information will have changed the British political landscape more profoundly than anything since the introduction of universal suffrage.

For the last five or six centuries books have been one of the primary sources of universal information. Our world, our civilisation, our character, our consciousness and our relationships with those around us have been largely shaped by what’s found between the covers of books. They inspire us, they liberate us but most of all they challenge us to be better people. They map out possibilities and they entertain; they are reliable and comforting companions.

Everything from The Enid Blyton Book of Bunnies to the Bible, from the Koran to Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenal commercial success, The Twilight Saga, have contributed to today’s mores.

The free and easy access to books we have come to regard as normal, as something we need not fret about, has led the establishment of democracies right around the world. As many tyrants have found the pen is mightier, and far more enduring, than the Kalashnikov.

Economics and evolving technologies suggest that we need to pay more attention to how we protect our access to books and information. As so many independent bookshops go to the wall; as publishers are forced to fight for supermarket shelf space, we should cherish and move to protect the availability of the diverse range of books we now take for granted.

Like so many other independent High Street traders – butchers, pharmacists, greengrocers and newsagents – booksellers are being squeezed by supermarkets and the incredibly powerful online retailers. The diversity and quirkiness small booksellers bring to our communities is in jeopardy. Like so many other businesses they are victims of globalisation.

Newspapers, books and libraries, online or traditional, have a huge role to play in keeping the information highway open for all of us. The web, magnificent as it is, may threaten the printed word but it will never supplant it entirely.

Our world has been shaped by 26 symbols, cobalt and paper and we would be very foolish not to do all we can to protect the enriching access to books we all have enjoyed and are indebted to.