The Government is asked to intervene in the face of the exclusion suffered by children in the library of Deba
- Several citizens of Deba have sent a massive letter to the Basque Library Service responsible for the management of public libraries, asking it to intervene in the face of the discriminatory regulations of the local library. Children under 6 years of age can only stay in the library for an hour a day in Deba, and children under 2 years of age are forbidden directly. They have been told by the Library Service that they will "study" the situation.
We have recently reported on the exclusion of children in the Deba library (and what the municipal government argues) in LUZ: Children under 2 years of age are not allowed to be in the library; children between 2 and 6 years of age are not allowed access to the library from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. for all other hours; and children under 15 years of age are not allowed to be in the library in the morning (children between 7 and 9 years of age are allowed from 4.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. for children between 10 and 15 years of age, from 4.30 p.m. to 7.45 p.m.). Children’s books can’t be ordered from another library (yes, from adults), they can’t use paintings, nothing is organized for children...
Library that denounces the situation for a long time The group of citizens for all organized a massive sending of letters last Saturday. The letters have been sent to the Library Service of the Basque Government, because the Ostolaza library in Deba is part of this network. Previously, they have been discussed several times with the municipal government and the library technician, but in vain.
"We have been told that it is not easy for them to intervene." The Library Service is responsible for the management of public libraries in the Basque Country
A member of the Library for All initiative explained to LUZ that "we had an email exchange with the Library Service a long time ago and they were about to address the issue, but the City Council of Deba said it would carry out an analysis of the state of the library and they waited for it. In November, we contacted them again and since we did not receive a response, we called them last week. They told us they'd look into it, make a meeting, and give us an answer." However, the public is concerned: "We have been told that the law of the Library Network is quite general and that being so general they do not see it easy to intervene, but they have to see it."
Regardless, the Library Service website clearly says: “The Basque Government Library Service is responsible for the management of public libraries in the Basque Country”.
“After all these years, anyway?”
The member of the Biblioteca para Todos (Library for All) initiative tells us that the sending of letters organized in the town on February 1 has been well received and will be repeated next Friday (February 7). "A lot of people have come, a lot of families with children 0-6 years old as we expected, but to our surprise, even families with older children."
They have had the opportunity to share many experiences about the library of Deba, with a significant example: "A woman tells us that she now has her children in college, but when they were children, since the little one could not enter the library, the library was outside when some acquaintance would show up to ask her to take care of the little one for a moment, while with her older son looking for some book to enter the library. Seeing that the situation is still the same today, we got very angry."
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