Library lament

At a time when libraries in the UK are coming under increasing threat, highlighted once more in The Bookseller (7 July 2016), The Icelanders Cometh campaign is generating good news for a beleaguered sector.

The recent Brexit vote for the UK to leave the European Union will have far-reaching consequences across the economy, filtering down to local government budgets and funding available for public libraries in communities.

A light in the dark

The crowdfunding heart of the Jolabokaflod Book Campaign provides one channel of hope that the future of libraries need not be one of managed decline: the first project, The Icelanders Cometh, shows how funds can be raised for libraries to spend on books (in this case, four award-winning authors and a treasure trove of medieval sagas and eddas).

The Jolabokaflod Book Campaign is working in conjunction with the London MEP, Syed Kamall, to spread the good news of microfunding and crowdfunding to every Council in the country and – by extension – every public library.

New deadline: let’s do this!

To mark the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair, everyone now has until 23 October 2016 to get involved with The Icelanders Cometh. You can contribute money for rewards; volunteer your help, talents and contacts; and share news about the project to everyone you know, in conversations both online and in the real world.

Let’s make this a season to remember for UK libraries; let’s do this!