Carnegie's Gold: Ali Bacon visits her home town and remembers its benefactor
Over the past two years I’ve spent time and energy defending libraries here in South Gloucestershire and neighbouring local authorities where they are being subjected to ever more drastic cuts. This is partly because as an ex-librarian (working mainly in the academic sector) I feel for the staff, but more because our local library played such a formative part in my childhood. So much so that it won a starring role in my first novel A Kettle of Fish (which I always hasten to add is nothing to do with my childhood - apart from the locations!) Of course the library in Dunfermline wasn’t ‘just any library’ but the very first Carnegie Library and we were always being reminded of our debt of gratitude to our famous benefactor. ( Andrew Carnegie was a native of the town). Staircase to the new museum Having moved south in my twenties, it's a while since I had darkened the door of my old library, until last month, when I was invited to speak at the Undiscovered ...