I feel a bit sad about this.

[MathsMadMummy]

my mum is a librarian and told me about the budget cuts to libraries (fair enough, everyone's suffering, no reason they should be excluded) but she's quite sad that the majority of the cuts are specifically from children's services.

isn't that a bit backwards? I thought children were the future, aren't they worth investing in?

not that mum really gets to do much librarying anyway - too much time teaching people how to use computers and helping people do their NHS choose-and-book thing etc... hardly any books in the library anymore

I would like to think so but:

"Playgroups ... Baby-sitting circles .... Reading groups ... All the things that churches organise."

All very middle class. I could add to that PTAs, allotment societies, antenatal/breastfeeding groups - again, all dominated by the more affluent educated classes.

Though Surestart is not without its faults, it does try to address some of these issues with toy libraries, playgroups, gym classes, cooking clubs, trips out etc.

My last word on the matter: curious about the source of your name tokyo, I've spent the last hour at the library scouring reference books. In the end I gave up and googled it on my iTouch

When this pseudonym was created, I was sat in a hotel overlooking the Nambu line in Tokyo.

It just goes to show - I thought you were something to do with this

Time to return to RL.

"real knowledge is in books and the other stuff is somehow second-rate"

yeah, that's what I said