Brannavan Gnanalingam says he would not be a writer if it were not for libraries. OPINION: Every fortnight, my mum walks down to Naenae Library to read my columns. She has a chat to the librarians, who often pass on their views of my column for that week. It’s turned into a bit of a ritual for her. I grew up around libraries. Or, more accurately, I grew up in libraries. I would spend hours in the Naenae Library initially, and then the War Memorial Library in Lower Hutt, reading and reading. I then learned I could take books home, which probably saved my mum a lot of time. She never complained about the time I’d spend in there. She never refused to take me, whenever I asked. We didn’t start off with any books in my house. We ended up with thousands.