Culcheth Library has gained a new little character, and for once it is not someone tutting loudly at the printer. The Bookworm, a wood-carved child reading a book, has been installed to encourage young readers to discover the magic of books, which is exactly the sort of wholesome village news we can all tolerate without needing a lie-down.
The sculpture was created by Cheshire artist Andy Burgess and funded through community fundraising led by the Friends of Culcheth Library. Credit where it is due, this is a lovely bit of local effort. It is also a gentle reminder that far too many good things in villages now seem to depend on volunteers rattling the fundraising tin while everyone else nods approvingly from a safe distance.
Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols recently visited Culcheth Library to see the newly unveiled artwork with the Friends group. She praised local residents and students for wanting to encourage young people to use the library, calling it a fantastic resource on the doorstep. She is right about that. Culcheth Library is one of those places people suddenly become very emotional about the moment there is even a whisper of losing it.
The sculpture was originally called The Reading Child and was officially unveiled earlier this year by Professor Steven Broomhead. Local residents and students at Culcheth High School then chose its official name, The Bookworm, which is pleasingly simple and far better than anything a committee with a flipchart might have produced.
Dr Janet Evans, Vice-Chair of Friends of Culcheth Library, said she is proud of the library and described it as the jewel in the crown of Warrington’s libraries. That may sound grand, but frankly Culcheth is allowed a bit of civic swagger when it has something worth celebrating.
Dr Evans also summed up the situation with the familiar but painfully true line: if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it. It is not the cheeriest slogan, granted, but it is accurate. Libraries do not survive on fond memories and Facebook comments about how important they are. They survive because people value them in real life.
Culcheth Library remains open every day except Wednesday and Sunday. With The Bookworm now sitting there quietly doing more for literacy than half the internet, it is a welcome addition to a village facility that deserves far more attention than it usually gets.