Page 52 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘You should have seen her face, Pats, when we were watching the light switch-on.’ As he thought back to it, he realised that he’d been watching Lois more than he’d noticed the lights themselves.
‘You could give her one of the hundreds of trees that keep sprouting up in here,’ she said gesturing with her bread knife.
‘There are three, and two of them are outside. Come on, where’s your Christmas spirit, Pats?’
‘Oh, alright I’ll cover for you, but you owe me.’
‘Will wages do, like normal?’
‘Yeah, course,’ she said with a grin. ‘And seeing you smile for a change is a nice bonus.’
‘Sorry, I know it’s been a bit tough around here lately.’
‘It’s not been tough, just that there’s some dark energy force near here that’s sucking the joy out of everything.’
He didn’t know what to say to that. It was true that since Amy had got back from her parent’s place she had been going around as if a dark cloud was over her head all the time and Oliver was terrified that it was a sign she was having some kind of relapse.
‘Sorry Pats.’ It was one thing to be having relationship problems, but it wasn’t fair to Patsy or anyone else for it to be seeping into the coffee house. And Oliver didn’t want that anyway. It was important to keep some separation between work and home when both were almost in the same place.
‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for, Ollie. Everything was fine until she turned up.’
‘Pats…’
‘You’ve known me for long enough to know I’m terrible at keeping my thoughts to myself,’ she said, pointing the bread knife at him. ‘I don’t know what you think is happening between you two but from an outsider’s perspective, this isn’t what it should be like. If going to buy a tree with Lois helps, then I’m all for it.’
It probably wouldn’t help, especially if Amy found out but he knew he could trust Patsy and it was just a favour for a friend. A favour he’d suggested and despite it seeming to be a risk he didn’t need to take, he was looking forward to it.
‘So, we’ll just keep it on the down-low,’ he said, giving Patsy a meaningful look, that they’d been friends long enough for her to be able to interpret.
‘Sure thing, boss.’
29
‘Now I’m joined by Lois Morgan from Croftwood Library which has been shortlisted for the Community Spirit award in the Library of the Year Competition. Welcome, Lois.’
‘Thanks for having me, Fiona.’ Lois said, feeling apprehensive at being on live radio for the first time, even if it was BBC Hereford and Worcester which she wasn’t sure anyone she knew listened to anyway.
‘Lois, I believe this is the first time a Worcestershire library has been shortlisted for this award since the Hive was in the running for the Innovation award when it first opened in 2012. What made you decide to enter Croftwood Library which is destined for closure?’
Awkward. Lois wasn’t sure how widely known it was that the library was facing closure and now she had to comment on it.
‘Well, Fiona, the date-with-a-book club that we started at Croftwood Library has been so successful that it has made a difference not just to the library but we are collaborating with local businesses who host our book club meetings and have rolled out the club to people who can only access library services via the mobile library. My colleague, Linda, felt that it was something that brought the community together unlike many other book clubs or indeed, many libraries.’
‘There will be people who will think it seems a shame to go to all this effort only to see it wasted when the library closes. What’s your response to them, Lois?’
‘I think whatever happens to Croftwood Library in the future, right now we are making a difference to people’s lives. A difference that will stay with them, hopefully, whether the library is there or not. It’s sad to think that Croftwood Library might close but that’s what can happen when people take wonderful resources like libraries for granted. And I think in this age of digital books, which has hit us hard, we have to find new ways to interact with the community apart from the traditional ones. That’s what we’re trying to do at Croftwood.’
‘And will you fight to keep Croftwood from closure?’
‘My team and I will do our best for Croftwood Library whatever happens.’ Lois was aware that Fiona was trying to draw her into making a comment that could easily end with Lois pitting herself against the County Libraries team, but she wasn’t going to do that.
‘Details of how to vote for Croftwood Library are on our website—’
‘Please vote for us,’ interrupted Lois. ‘And if you don’t have access to a computer, we have postcards in the Hive and at Croftwood Library and lots of shops in the town so that you can vote by post or pop in anyway and we can show you how to vote online.’
‘Thank you, Lois. Best of luck with the competition. And now, the new Christmas single from Robbie Williams.’
Fiona removed her headphones. ‘Sorry if I came on a bit strong but people will get behind you if they think it could save the library. Even if they never set foot in the place, you’d be surprised how people rally to a cause.’
