The library in North Harrow has been standing strong, however many people are unaware of the fascinating history of this building, and the intense efforts behind the pages to keep the library up and running.
North Harrow Library isn't just a place where locals in North Harrow can come to borrow books and magazines. It's a social hub, where the community can meet new people, engage in interesting talks and opportunities, and enhance children's social skills through creative and fun workshops.
“In the past, if you went to a library, you would just go for the books' says Kamal Shah, the Chair of Trustees. “People come here for different things, it's not just books”.
North Harrow Library offers a wide variety of classes for people of all ages, such as Children's Arts and Crafts, Rhyme Time for toddlers, Sound Meditation and the Knitting Group.
“Last Saturday we had a Diwali event for kids, and there was about 40 of them” says Mr Shah.
However, there are high costs in running the library. With a yearly cost of £25,000, North Harrow Library relies on three main streams of revenue, in order to continue to provide for the community.
“The first one, is we get donations from people” he says.
Anyone is welcome to donate to the library, through PayPal, or even with loose cash. Small amounts can make massive differences to a small, volunteer-based library like this.
“Secondly, we get donations of books” continues Mr Shah.
“We don't actually buy books to put on the shelves. We only put donated books on the shelves”
There's a whole process of people looking at the books, to see whether they want to put it on the shelves. If it doesn't go on the shelves, the volunteers see if they can sell it, either on ebay, or at the front desk of the library.
“We sell them really cheap, about 50p each” he adds.
This allows everyone in North Harrow to have access to affordable books for all purposes, and helps the library to raise a bit of money.
On top of that, they try to raise funding, and rely on programms such as 'Excite', who rent the library to run workshops and talks for young people, on finding jobs and how to prepare for interviews.
“We have to raise every penny of our costs, otherwise we will just close down” says the Chairman.
This altogether helps North Harrow Library generate enough revenue to stay open, though despite their current success, the library has struggled to run in the past, after closing down in June 2015, due to government cuts.
Four local libraries were proposed to close down by the council, creating a huge public uproar.
“When you lose the library, the whole area goes down, because people don't come out” Mr Shah claims.
“Its not just the books for me, it's about the whole community space”.
The removal of such an important place for so many, meant countless petitions and surveys were submitted to the council, in order for the library to reopen again.
“The idea behind my campaign, was to see if we could make the loudest noise” he says.
Intense pressure was put on the council, who finally responded by saying anyone who wanted to keep the library open, would have to produce a business plan.
The North Harrow Library trust worked together, to produce a detailed plan of how they would raise funds through volunteers, in order to cover costs and keep the library open.
It was a three year battle, and the library finally opened its doors to the public, once again, in September 2018.
The library has continued to thrive ever since, with over sixty volunteers, who have allowed a stable recovery from the Covid lockdown.
To this present day, North Harrow Library is able to continue to serve to the local community, and provide many exciting opportunities, with a bright, hopeful future ahead.
