Libraries and museums to be ‘warm havens’ for people struggling with energy bills

44 comments
  1. So let me get this right:

    Libraries used to be places you went to borrow or read books and other publications, or maybe ask an information organisation specialist (“librarian”) to help you find some information for you.

    Now libraries are places where you do that, where you get access to legal and welfare advice, where people go to shelter from rain or cold, places where people escape domestic abuse or bad living situations, and so on.

    Welcome to Tory Britain – where the last remaining welcoming place for people in need is the library!?

  2. What is the UK, the 6th richest nation on the planet or something?

    Not only do we have millions requiring food banks, this year we’ll have millions requiring warmth banks, too, along with the many people that will die

    How is this situation not so far beyond shocking and insane to many people?

    This is Tory Britain. I really fucking hope no one ever forgets it this time.

  3. A fifth of them have gone since 2010
    Not to mention a chunk out of those left are struggling to remain open with reduced hours
    *^(And thats assuming the lifts work if the person has a wheelchair/mobility needs)*

  4. What a load of nonsense. If people are struggling, just heat one room in the house for a period of time.

    ‘Tory Britain’ blah blah. This energy crisis is a global problem. Any European country whose consumers are not suffering, means their government is subsidising, which means more debt. Which is irresponsible given the financial crisis we are in.

  5. I’m banking on places starting to block off their power sockets in then not too distant future as people use them to charge devices+power banks.

  6. No offence but people struggling financially or just experiencing loneliness have been doing this for years . Also riding buses. My question is how can people struggling financially or experiencing loneliness go to local libraries if hundreds of libraries have been closed down due to Tory cuts.

  7. The tories have been chronically under funding libraries for the past decade and it’s resulted in them closing down, now they suggest we go huddle together in the remaining ones to keep warm.

  8. Heard this in a county wide meeting for charities and VCSE organisations the other day and wanted to be sick.

    They act like it’s a good idea but there is ZERO discussion about why this is so appalling.

  9. Interesting how they decided to illustrate this article with a picture of Kingsthorpe Library in Northampton…

  10. What next? Haypenny sleeping ropes for the elderly. 24/7 child gas installers? Britain is becoming a Victorian Shithole again.

  11. Come little Jimmathy, let us away to spend time at the warm haven, such that papa doesn’t have to work 80 hours to heat our home for more than an hour lest we make more than three cups of tea in fear we’ll all be in the pauper house next week.

    Oh mater, I’m so hungry, when can we eat?

    Papa will bring us some bread and oats Jimmathy and you can have a full ounce this week!

  12. Unless you live very close to one of these ‘warm havens’ I don’t understand how it would help.
    Does leaving a cold house to walk in the colder outside to get to somewhere warm make any sense?
    It’s not like you can stay, they’ll close in the evening and then you’ll have to make your way back home in the dark and even colder weather.
    It’d cost me £5.50 if I went on a bus.
    I can imagine supermarkets being busy with slow moving shoppers.
    “I was there for two hours, so I thought I should buy something. Don’t worry I didn’t splash out on the Tesco Finest gruel.”

  13. How cold are we expecting it to get that we need libraries and museums for heat, museums are usually cold, it’s going to have to be really fucking cold for that to be an upgrade

  14. I like to watch old films and imagine how all the people would be dreaming how good things will be in 2022. Then I read stuff like this and laugh. ” in the future. We can’t afford to heat homes so we all huddle in a library ” what a joke eh.

  15. If libraries and museums aren’t an option for you, go to my local Superdrug store instead!

    They have their heating on full blast ALL year round! Even during the recent bloody summer heatwave, on the hottest day of the year, they still had it on full whack in store.

    It’s great for weight loss purposes, too. I went in there just to buy some perfume for my mum, and by the time I’d had my purchase rung up at the till, I lost 6lbs in water-weight alone just from all the excessive sweating!

    *snazzy advert musak and forcefully-gleeful smarmy voice* *My local Superdrug store – it’s like visiting a volcano, only hotter*!

  16. What libraries? We only have central ones as the others were closed in the great austerity project.

  17. Libraries are no longer libraries. I walked into my local library yesterday for the first time in over 20 years (I’ve just moved back home after 22 years away) and it looked more like a soft play area than the peaceful place I remember.

    Loud music playing, kids running around and screaming, lego everywhere. With book shelves reduced to a small corner of the building. I took one look, thought “sod that,” and went home.

  18. That’s fine if you can leave your house.. I’m disabled and have severe airborne food allergies. Our library has an open area coffee shop

  19. But all the libraries and museums have been bulldozed in the poor towns and cities to make way for Tesco Express and Bargain Booze.

    I am not even kidding. Oh and the leisure centers are fast closing too due to costs.

    Of course all the NICE and WELL OFF towns and cities will have lovely period libraries and museums full of suitably de-colonized content. They will also all open only 3 hrs a week and when open be completely deserted. Obviously.

    Nice headline tho.

  20. Who pays for it? Libraries are generally run by councils and as of yet there are no funding announced for this. A lot of councils are struggling as it is.

  21. It says a lot when we’re far more concerned as a society about social media personalities like Tate than we are about being price gouged into poverty by a three-fold price hike courtesy of our greedy energy supplier overlords.

    Something I will say, there is a reason why guys like him have gained a significant following online, and that’s because his misogynistic teachings have done more to resonate with today’s youth than the current establishment. As somebody who has actually watched some of his videos (with disgust), I find that ***very*** worrying for what our next generation is going to be like.

    Didn’t we learn anything from the Great Depression or Second World War?

    Economic crisis and years of being blamed for the world’s problems was what led Germany down a dark path. Britain could very well swing far-right if the Tories don’t change course soon.

    Same shit is happening to Britain. Millennials and zoomers have been royally fucked by years of economic hardship while the media blames them for being entitled, drinking too many lattes and eating too much avocado toast.

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