It is a creative partnership like no other. Squatters have occupied Friern Barnet library in north London and brokered a deal with the local community to reopen the building which shut down earlier in the year due to public sector cuts.

The community is still reeling from a failed campaign to keep the library open, which attracted nearly 5,000 signatures in support. But our shelves are beginning to fill up. From volumes of Shakespeare to books on wildlife, we have more then 500 books back in the library, all donated by members of the community. Discussions with the council have been surprisingly positive, and we are working on ways to keep the venture open by getting all groups to co-operate.

In a unique move, the council has offered us a building around the corner to open up as a replacement. Although the community is adamant that it wishes to keep the original building, this nonetheless represents an interesting, constructive suggestion that serves to engage with squatters, rather than criminalise them. But this is just one library. Of the 4,612 in the country, 270 are now closed or due to be closed as a result of public sector cuts. I have been a squatter for nearly 23 years and see no reason why we can't seek more reasonable solutions like this occupation for the nearly one million empty buildings in the UK. What we have here is a prime example of the positive contribution squatters can make to the community.

There is a broad perception – built from years of negative coverage in certain parts of the media – of squatters as messy home invaders hellbent on destroying and wrecking homes. But for the vast majority of us this is simply not the case. Squatters can repair, fix and renovate buildings, turning abandoned spaces into homes – or in the case of Friern library, public buildings with civic function. We are part of the solution to Britain's current housing crisis, not part of the problem.

So, is the long-term future of our occupied library in Barnet a viable one? With the limited resources we have, we are doing our best to make sure that it is. But let's be frank. The reason for the library's closure in the first place stems from the ongoing financial crisis. And while bankers have been let off the hook, it's ordinary people and ordinary communities who are suffering. Friern library was closed as a direct consequence of the government's austerity programme. Any chance of keeping it open in the long run requires sustained co-operation between us all. We hope the creative partnership formed here in Barnet will be an inspiration for change.