Croxteth Library

At the far end of the row of shops, Liverpool City Council, built a brand new library .The opening
ceremony was impressive , with a large crowd watching the event .A local naturalist cut the ribbon , and
I believe he was Norman Ellison, who wrote under the pen name of “ Nomad “and lived on the Wirral
.It was only small, but all the books were new, and it contained a children’s section. The librarians were
very friendly and helpful, and the Library, became very important to me. I soon read all the children’s
books of interest and moved onto the adult books, soon becoming quite well read. For some reason, the
writings of Arthur Ransome did not appeal to me, and I have never yet read any of his work. In the
1960,s a man librarian called Alan Baldridge was in charge. He was very interested in birds, as was I, and
we got on fine. He had explored Europe by motor bike, travelling to the Camargue and to the north of
Norway. He was a great inspiration, and later emigrated to the USA where he rose to head a large
library.
Without any doubt, Croxteth Library was a big factor in my life, and I owe it a great debt. Sadly, I believe
it has now closed as part of financial cuts to help pay for the renewed Central Library. In my view this is a
mistaken policy, because public transport is so expensive that few young people in Croxteth will now
have access to books and literature.