Congratulations to Betty McAlister, a regular borrower at Woodstock Library and to Davey Carlin, a regular borrower at Whiterock Library. Both of these borrowers have had their story included in one of the Quick Read publications for this year.
Pat Jordan, Regional RaW Cordinator for Belfast said:
“Last year regional RaW coordinators were asked to identify local people who have overcome difficulties to change their circumstances and ask them to tell their story for possible inclusion in a forthcoming Quick Read publication. I contacted our branch managers and asked if they knew any of their borrowers who would be suitable and willing to be nominated. I received two names one from Whiterock and one from Woodstock. I forwarded their details to BBC Learning and am delighted to report that both stories have been included in ‘RaW Voices – True Stories of Hardship and Hope’ edited by Vanessa Feltz. The stories from Belfast are ‘The Speech Therapist’ by Betty McAlister and ‘The Activist Executive’ by Davy Carlin”
In Davy’s story he has this to say about the Whiterock Library.
No matter what was going on in my life, the one place I had always gone as a kind of escape from everyone and everything was the Whiterock library in west Belfast. It was like walking into a different world, a world where it didn’t matter who I was or what religion I was, or what colour I was or where I lived. I could read whatever I wanted and find out about anything. I wanted to know about that wide world far away from Northern Ireland, about other countries. I read almost every travel book I could find in that library, and decided that I wanted to see some of those other countries.
RaW Voices: True Stories of Hardship and Hope
Vanessa Feltz BBC Books ISBN: 978 1 846 07446 2
Gripping, funny, sometimes sad and always inspirational, this collection of real-life stories gives a fascinating insight into the lives of other people. It will encourage readers to look at their own lives from a different perspective, perhaps providing the motivation to achieve new goals of their own. RaW Voices: True Stories of Hardship and Hope is edited with wit and sensitivity by broadcaster and columnist Vanessa Feltz.
