Mumsnet Talk

From yesterdays Guardian

I don't know where to start with his comments . I could never afford to buy all the books the dc's get through! If we really love the book then sometimes we will buy it afterwards, but without a library we wouldn't have the freedom to browse so many titles.

He seems very out of touch.

Oh, he's a grumpy sod, best ignored.

For someone who has inspired so many children to delve into history he's remarkably hellbent on pissing all over that legacy, for whatever reason.

What an awful attitude

Dd and ds have bought many, many books that they only discovered be side they first came across that author at the library

It's the Internet and downloading that us killing book shops, not libraries.

Well he should speak to Anthony Horowitz, who passionately believes in libraries.

I have seen what ds's school library (primary) can do for those kids whose parents can't afford books and maybe wouldn't know what to buy either. You can't measure that in terms of money.

Atrocious attitude.

I read another interview with him a few months ago - he is a grumpy old sod. Doesn't actually like history or education. He thinks he's a bit radical and anti-establishment, but I think he's just a bit sad.

DS1 loves his books though.

Julia Donaldson passionately backs libraries. Many others too. Caroline Lawrence turned up at our local campaign in support of a threatened library.

My DCs get 4 or 5 books every couple of weeks from the library. Horrible histories will remain library borrows - certainly won't be buying them!

Seriously? DS and I love our local childrens section of our main library. There's space to play. We meet friends there on cold, rainy winter days. We borrow books and DVDs. I don't use main library as much since I got the Kindle but I still borrow cookery books, reference books and music scores for myself. I would be gutted if our library closed.

That's actually put me off your books, Horrible History man!

He's missing the point of the modern library service.
It's not just about books.
It never was. It's about access to information, in whatever form each generation accesses it.

Although I do suspect he is revelling in his 'lone voice' status amongst authors, to boost sales of box sets through budget sellers

He is soooo wrong! The local library is always packed out!

Ours is packed too, although we have a fancy pants Discovery Centre. It's far from being a silent library, always full of kids, old people reading and drinking coffee, students working and the desk of computers is always full of people.

We go for board games sessions and change our books over at the same time.

Well now that I have library close by I've rediscovered how brilliant it is. If I see a book I'd like to read, or for the kids, my first step now is to check the online library catalogue and if they have it then order the book into my local branch. Fabulous. We can't afford to buy nearly as many books as we'd like and also don't have the space to store them all.

I always thought the Horrible Histories books were a load of rubbish. Now I definitely will not buy any for DS.

Horrible Histories books are great - the author may be a grumpy old sod but that's no reason not to enjoy the books. Enid Blyton wasn't a nice lady by all accounts but loads of children enjoy her stories (thankfully today largely without the racism).

Unbelievable! What an arse. Libraries are fantastic especially for encouraging children to read and love stories. (Disclaimer I may be slightly biased as I work in a library - actually a Discovery Centre as mentioned my meglet and do a lot of children's work)
Nick Arnold who wrote the Horrible Science books is fab by the way and has done done several live shows where I work that are always amazing.

I could never afford to read so much either if it weren't for my library.
Dc's also.
I absolutely love our library. It's a social place too.

His POV is a writers point of view. They really have to sell a load of books to make decent money and I guess it's frustrating for them.

I've got some of his books from charity shops. Writers don't get royalties for that either...
Time to get another job Mr. Deary?

Considering how badly it looks like the libraries where he's from are due for the chop... he's probably right there.

Mind you - our local one apparently hasn't had its day - it's getting closed for 5 months for a total refurb and is usually heaving... they cut the opening hours down and had to put them back up ASAP as the demand was so high.