Midsummer Magic

Reader-in-Residence Claire Jennings shares the inspiration behind her Midsummer Magic event. “This evening I promise you a tale which will remind you of nothing and of everything,” Goethe. Walking through the door into the storeroom at Thornaby Central Library, I was so excited to imagine what I might find there. A folklore collection that has… Continue reading Midsummer Magic

Quotes: The Sunday Art Club

It’s time for another Sunday Art Club for the Crossing the Tees Festival. 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 a lot of time to get creative. This week we are looking at quotes. Quotes can… Continue reading Quotes: The Sunday Art Club

Genres: The Sunday Art Club

It’s time for another Sunday Art Club for the Crossing the Tees Festival. 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 a lot of time to get creative. This week we are thinking about the genres of… Continue reading Genres: The Sunday Art Club

Listen and Draw

Reader-in-Residence for Redcar & Cleveland Libraries Kat Lynas, introduces the inspiration behind her final event for Crossing the Tees. Are audiobooks books? Do they count? I’ve heard these questions asked before in multiple places and yes they are and they do count, certainly, in my opinion anyway! As a Reader-in-Residence, I wanted to shine a… Continue reading Listen and Draw

I am a Librarian: The Sunday Art Club

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

Reading the Local Area – History and Heritage: Women and Industry

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

Reading the Local Area: Monsters, Myth and Mayhem

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

Meet the local authors

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

The Hidden Gems of Redcar Library

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

Imagined Islands & Lost Lands

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

11 - 29 June 2026