Day 17: Oadby Library - Free to join #30days30libraries

Oadby Library is stationed on a busy high street, opposite a NatWest, next to a wedding hire company.Before I even get in there, I'm once again struck by just how many services libraries offer. It's not just about books, although they will always form a library's backbone.I stop. I listen. I look.A woman sits in a quiet corner and calls social services to ask if they can help with care for her elderly mother.A young student comes in to enquire if she can volunteer as a reading buddy for the Summer Reading programme.A librarian helps someone to save a file onto a memory stick and shows them how to forward and delete emails.Everywhere I look I see signs of learning, of support.A mother and daughter sit, leaning against one another on a sofa, sharing a book.A student sits, writing furiously, plugged into her iPhone and her work.A little boy walks through the room, counting his steps."1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4."No one dares shush him.