Am writing this all alone in the Coleridge Room at the top floor of the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution, which I’ve just joined.
As a library junkie, I’d been in a mood for joining a Secret Library or two for some time. Well, by secret, I mean independent subscription libraries, but there’s the same atmosphere. You pay up for the year ahead (and in the case of the London Library, obtain a reference to prove you’re vaguely decent AND pay), then browse, read and write in studious comfort without the encumbrances of many public lending libraries: the trilling of mobile phones, the odour of fallen men, the chatter of loose children. There’s also the sense of commitment and dedication: if you’ve actually paid to join a library, you better damn well use it.
I’d also worked out that I’d been spending a fair amount of money in the free libraries anyway: on fines for late books at my local public outlets, and on the pricey Wifi service at the British Library. With subscription libraries there’s no fines, and free Wifi.
So here I am at the HL&SI, off Pond Square. It’s a curious entity, somewhere between a village hall, a Women’s Institute, and a gentleman’s club, with a library attached deep within the building. There’s all kinds of lectures, film societies, classes, art exhibitions and so forth. But I’m more interested in the Secret Library and the Members’ Room, with its newspapers and open fire.
On entering the place today, I bump into my neighbour Ms L from upstairs. With outrageous synchronicity, she’s decided to join up too. I can only assume we gave each other the same idea telepathically through the ceiling that separates our beds. Or that we had it programmed into us during the night by an alien who works part time for the Institution.
Ms L says she used to naughtily sneak into the place when the door was opened by an exitingĂ‚Â member, in order to sample the heating, the big armchairs, the lovely fire and the decent selection of newspapers. She was found out and asked to leave. But clearly there’s no hard feelings and they’ve let her join legitimately.
Evening – to the Apollo Lower Regent St, for a press screening of Sunshine. This is the new sci-fi film from the 28 Days Later team: director Danny Boyle, screenwriter Alex Garland, star Cillian Murphy. Best summed up by a comment overheard on exiting:
“I had no idea space was so noisy.”
