National Libraries Day: celebrating your local library

On Saturday 9 February, we attended some events at libraries faced with closure in Newcastle. You can see some of the photos from the event at Cruddas Park library in Elswick here. Across the region, in libraries big and small, authors, poets, actors, musicians and storytellers came together to celebrate these wonderful institutions which so many frequent and enjoy.

At Cruddas Park, crime writers Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid spoke very movingly about not only how important libraries were and still are to them, but also of their importance to the communities they serve. Ann has previously written about this for our blog at www.letstalklibraries.com.

The authors’ point was underlined by the 70 or so members of the surrounding area who had turned out to hear them read and talk, from the elderly residents for whom the library is a place to meet with friends, to the children who have no access to books at home and devour the children’s section every week.

We hope you took time to attend an event at your local library on Saturday, and that you continue to enjoy the many things the libraries have to offer in the coming months and years.