You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Spellow Lane Library crowdfund organiser 'overwhelmed' as riot appeal raises £70k in a day
A crowdfunder has helped raise more than £70,000 in little over a day for the desecrated Spellow Lane Library Hub with the likes of Nigella Lawson and Frank Cottrell-Boyce pledging support.
The community library in Liverpool was targeted by a mob during the recent riots which spread across the UK this week. The Spellow Lane Library Hub, which opened in March last year as "the first of its kind in the north of England" to specifically to serve deprived communities, suffered major damage to its ground floor. It was set on fire with rioters trying to stop firefighters putting out the blaze. The space had been due to host a range of community events over the summer.
When nearby nail technician Alex McCormick heard about the attack she set up a GoFundMe campaign around midday on Sunday (4th August) with the goal of £500. It went on to raise £54,000 in 24 hours, tipping over the £70,000 mark by Monday afternoon (5th August)—140 times the original goal. Among the 3,200 supporters is TV chef Nigella Lawson, alongside new Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, authors Robert Macfarlane and Natalie Haynes, and indie bookshops Book-Ish and Fox Lane Books.
McCormick told The Bookseller: "I’m overwhelmed because I started it off thinking it would be something small and never thought it would get to the point it has got to. I felt helpless when I heard and thought that fundraising is something nice we could do as libraries are so important. I’m also really proud of the local community but also the book community that helped it get to this point.”
McCormick, who lives in the nearby Walton area of Liverpool, said: "I was just upset like the rest of the country over the devastation we’ve seen over the past seven days and annoyed that it’s impacted on kids. I’ve got a two-year-old daughter who loves to read, I love to read and that’s a space for enrichment and education for local kids and I’ve just seen the posts about what had happened."
She was surprised at how quickly the fundraiser gathered momentum. "I posted about it on my own social media and then friends and family shared it and then I started getting messages from people saying, ‘Are you watching this—are you seeing who’s donated?’ I was working so I couldn’t see it and then I was so shocked," she said. "It seemed to be jumping up a crazy amount as I only set it up yesterday at midday... Lots of authors and illustrators have also offered to donate books."
McCormick has been in discussion with Liverpool Libraries and Archives on how to transfer the funds, which will be specifically ring-fenced for Spellow Lane. She added: "We’re so thankful and it just shows what community can do."
Liverpool Council thanked the community for its support and said it "will be working hard to support residents and ensure service users have access to library services", in a statement posted on X. The city’s mayor Richard Kemp posted on the same platform about how he had received an email offering help from Jennifer La Chapelle, chief executive of Clearview Public Library, in Ontario, Canada.
Spellow Library Hub manager Deborah Moore added: "We had so much community engagement planned for the summer holidays for the children and family, lots of courses, IT, wellbeing sessions and at the end of the day that will all be affected by this... it is just devastating."
Ed Jewell, president of Libraries Connected, commented on the Spellow Lane Library damage: "It is absolutely sickening to see a public library destroyed by rioters. Like libraries across the country, Spellow Hub Library offered support, hope and sanctuary to the local community. As well providing free access to books and information, it hosted training and skills programmes for the long term unemployed, family activities, wellbeing events and a food bank. Now all this is in jeopardy. We have offered our full support to library staff and will help in any way we can to get their vital services up and running again.
"It has been incredibly heartening to see the library’s staff, volunteers and local people working together to clean up the damage and restore the library for the community." Jewell also paid tribute to the "remarkable generosity" of those supporting the crowdfunder campaign.
Adam Wharton pleaded guilty to burglary in relation to serious disorder following the attack on the library, in a hearing on Monday (5th August) at Liverpool Crown Court, the Liverpool Echo has reported.
To donate to the fundraiser, visit gofundme.com/f/books-for-spellow-lane.
The Bookseller’s annual libraries issue will be published on 30th August.
