Enlightenment in the darkness

"Libraries gave us power", sang James Dean Bradfield on the Manic Street Preachers' classic single 'A Design For Life'. They can also give us hope or consolation when times are tough - as Rowan Hisayo Buchanan underlines in a fascinating article about the Bethnal Green Library in London. Established in what was once a lunatic asylum with the aid of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the library took a direct hit from a German bomb during the Second World War - only for the books to be moved down into a bomb shelter for their protection and so that the librarians could continue to provide a service to the local community. Keep calm and carry on indeed.