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National SAVE Libraries Day

2/6/2016

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PictureHat and stars on, ready to story tell!

As a huge supporter, appreciator and user of my local library  I always turn out for National Libraries Day. And I'm not the only one. It's always packed with local families and community groups all coming together to share skills and time.
​

PicturePortrait painting by budding artists.


​This year was no different. Local artist Andrew Holland was busy helping children paint portraits, the North Wales Owl Trust were along with some feathered friends, the African Drummers raised the rhythmic roof, Arty Party celebrated Chinese New Year by creating dragons and everyone was made to eat their words... on biscuits! All this as well as face painting, henna, baby yoga, tai chi and Asian cuisine.

What did I add to proceedings? Stories of course! A mixture of stories from books, some of my own oral tales along with a good ukulele sing song (adult participation a must), and a cheeky puppet puppy named Rascal!
Picture
Rascal making friends at the Arty Party table.
Picture

​It sounds a whole lot of fun, and it was! But I don't mind admitting that this year it came with a bitter edge. With over 50% of the libraries in my local Lancashire under threat of closure and no one quite sure where the government cuts axe will fall, this could potentially be the last Libraries Day in our very much valued, very much used local library.

Of course there is a campaign and a petition. Please go and have a look and offer your support.

So today the feeling was very much make the most of what we have while we still have it. I added a very special book to my performance.
 'How the Library, (Not the Prince) saved Rapunzel' 
words by Wendy Meddour pictures by Rebecca Ashdown.

​This wonderfully quirky picture book tells the perfect tale of just how life changing and affirming a library can be.

Okay, I am probably a bit of a story telling King Cnut. Reading this won't stop the tide of closures we're facing, but I hope I made the people hearing it think a little harder about what they stand to loose and persuade them to fight that little bit harder. I also really hope the librarians busily working on the periphery heard it and realised just how important they are.

So Happy Libraries Day everyone. And if you really want to show how much you love your local library then Speak up for Libraries and help save it!​

Picture
illustration with permission from Sarah McIntyre
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Summer Reading Challange

11/7/2014

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Okay I admit it, the more observant of you will notice that this post is being written a long time after summer. The truth is that recently my diary has just been so packed with storytelling, literary festivals, re-writes, edits, conferences and... (something else, now what was that? Oh yes...) teaching that I haven't been a very good girl at keeping you all up to date.


I hope to remedy that over the next few days and give you a whistle stop catch up and to do that we have to go back into the mists of time and remember a summer just gone.


Now I love the summer reading challenge and I always get involved with activities down at my local library but this year's was extra special. Partly because all the supporting illustration had been done by one of my most favourite illustrators, Sarah McIntyre, but also because I got to team up with local artist Andrew Holland for some brilliant mythical fun. 


Over the weeks we ran several events focusing on dragons, we read stories, sang songs, wore hats (lots of them), did yoga and created the most fantastical piece of collaborative dragon art that now has pride of place in the library. A permanent reminder of the mythical magic we conjured up at the reading challenge.

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    George Kirk

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