Madam,

I am a volunteer there and over the last three years or so have been in the very good company of other volunteers working alongside the “paid” staff at the National Library and we all get on very well.

I can truthfully say that it has been a very enjoyable and valuable experience for every volunteer that I work with. I think that the staff also hold us in high regard for the very valuable work that we do and that without us the material and resources that come to the library just wouldn’t be able to be processed and accessed.

The task is too labour-intensive and laborious and the library just doesn’t have the human resources capacity to deal with it, and as a result that material could be lost or rejected without our help. We volunteers are aware of that and we all make a great effort to meet the standards and criteria, which are extremely demanding, as they should be, to deliver it to the public who use the library.

Whilst we volunteers enjoy our work and help to assist the staff, I would like to stress in the strongest possible terms that in no way should it be construed that we are depriving anyone there of employment or preventing anyone from obtaining employment at the library. I hope that this is clear.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to have the time, skills and energy to be involved in such worthwhile work, which we also benefit from in many ways, we consider it to be an honour and a privilege to work in such a fine building and for such a worthy cause, not least to be contributing to the importance of Welsh life and culture for many generations to come, that will be shared far and wide across the globe.

Until one understands the extent of the library’s collection and the activity one cannot begin to appreciate the value of this collection to the world at large.

I personally feel honoured to be allowed to participate in the scheme of things and I would be very surprised to find that the resident staff see us as robbing anyone of employment which could be implied in the wording of your article.

Yours etc,

Have your say on the local issues affecting you - email [email protected] or join in the conversation on our Facebook page