Young? Want to escape the violence of home? Try a library.

It won’t solve all your problems but if you’re young and looking for a place to escape the violence of home, you could try a library.

Libraries tend to be quiet places, usually free from threats and intimidation, and somewhere where you can learn about the world and all manner of things. You might also want to use the library to spend time thinking about what you can do to stop the violence or break free from it.

Nicola Miller, now an adult, recently commented that her childhood would have been bleak without libraries. She said, “Having a warm local library stuffed with books helped me escape my deeply unpleasant home and instead hang out with all manner of characters – some with home lives even worse than mine. A sense of proportion, safe entertainment, education and a refuge- cheap at any price.” Miller recently wrote a piece about her won depth of gratitude for libraries.

Recently author Neil Gaiman explained in the Guardian that the most important thing about libraries is that they are a safe space.