Kat Lynas, Reader-in-Residence for Redcar & Cleveland Libraries introduces The Sunday Art Club! For the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some creative prompts from The Sunday Art Club. The club invites you to join in with activities that take 5, 20 or 60 minutes to complete. Perfect for when you have a little or… Continue reading I am a Librarian: The Sunday Art Club
Reader-in-Residence for Middlesbrough Libraries, Debbie Rolls, hosts a full day of discussion and discovery on Monday 18 May 9.30am – 4.30pm at Newport Settlement Community Hub. When people talk about Teesside heritage they often think of Iron and Steel. The area would have been remarkably different without these male dominated industries, but iron, steel and… Continue reading Reading the Local Area – History and Heritage: Women and Industry
Middlesbrough Libraries’ Reader-in-Residence Debbie Rolls has planned a whole day of reading fun to explore Teesside’s literary heritage. Debbie explains her approach in this blog. When people talk about reading books about their local area their attention is usually drawn to local history and non-fiction. Yet most books borrowed from libraries are fiction, particularly crime… Continue reading Reading the Local Area: Monsters, Myth and Mayhem
Our open call for local authors received so many brilliant applications we are holding two local author showcase events this year. Darlington Library will host Michael Brown, Geoffrey Chapman, Emma Conally-Barklem, LM Milford, Dominic Nelson-Ashley and Tim Prescott. Middlesbrough Central Library will host Bob Beagrie, Paul Cooper, Michael Jarvie, Rebecca Philipson and Max Wrigley. Each… Continue reading Meet the local authors
by Reader-in-Residence for Redcar & Cleveland Libraries Kat Lynas I have been exploring Redcar library. In particular, a number of archive boxes that hold hundreds of historical photographs. Each box revealed unexpected treasures. I soon found time ticking away as I unearthed new images that sparked my imagination. Some of the photographs were of recognisable… Continue reading The Hidden Gems of Redcar Library
Reader-in-Residence for Redcar & Cleveland Libraries Kat Lynas introduces her map making workshop. I’ve always loved discovering maps in books. It started with childhood reads like the map of the Hundred-Acre Wood in Winnie the Pooh, through to classics like Tolkien’s Middle-earth and many more besides. The original map of the Hundred-acre Wood, published in… Continue reading Imagined Islands & Lost Lands
Fancy getting hands‑on and helping our libraries look fabulous? Come along and make bunting and banners to decorate libraries for Crossing the Tees Book Festival! Join textile artist Harriet Mee at fun, free craft sessions in libraries throughout May. Everyone’s welcome — whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned sewer. We’ll be using sewing… Continue reading Get crafty for Crossing the Tees!
We tell ourselves stories in order to live. I have been thinking about this since last week, since I stood in Darlington Library on a research visit, and picked up a baby names book. Baby Names 2023. Over 8,000 names. I opened it at the Ts. Thabo, Swahili, meaning filled with happiness. Thelonious, Latin, meaning… Continue reading What the library holds by Louise Logan-Smith
It can be easy to think of your life as being unremarkable. Maybe you are a busy parent, trying to fit everything in that you need to before the school run. Or maybe you are a shift worker, getting ready to leave after a long day. Or maybe you are just trying to get through… Continue reading Stories are already all around you by Theodore Forcer
I keep coming back to libraries. I don’t entirely know why when I have piles and piles of books at home. Something about the light, maybe, the flatness of it, the way it falls without drama across tables and spines and other people’s bent heads. Something about the permission to be still. I have lived… Continue reading Finding Home in Stories by Louise Logan-Smith
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