At the GIR Conference, Jane Davis talked through the story of Get Into Reading, which was followed by Blake Morrison talking about his first visit to Merseyside to write ‘that’ article and the impact that had not just on us but on him also. This was followed by a showcase of GIR facilitators from over the country, explaining how they’ve taken GIR back to where they live. The morning and afternoon workshops, which covered such diverse topics as: Reading with Young People, What is Reading?, MerseyBEAT Research Project and Get Into Reading in Libraries; were felt by delegates to be really informative and engaging – as was the whole conference. One lady said to me, “thank you for this, it’s been an invaluable experience for me.”

A particular highlight from Friday were the testimoinies spoken by some of our courageous Get Into Reading members, which were deeply moving and inspiring.

The Friday Night Supper saw Blackburne House transformed from day conference venue to an inviting, atmospheric dinner venue. Jane and Phil Davis were joined by David Constantine and Clare Allan to discuss ‘The Value of Reading in a Life’, which led to some amusing and heartfelt stories of the impact of reading. The audience joined in the conversation in great spirit and everyone left very full of food for the body and soul.

The Readers’ Day was great fun! Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips was our host and we had the presence of Clare Allan, Tim Pears and David and Helen Constantine, as well as TRO staff Angela Macmillan, Kate McDonnell and Jane Davis recommending their favourite reads for the first part of the day. Brian’s Paradise Lost workshop was particularly popular and I think everyone’s agreed that he needs to do one for each book of Milton’s epic…

Some comments from attendees:

“I found all the sessions so helpful and informative and the whole atmosphere so friendly and welcoming.”

“It’s been an invaluable experience for me.”

“A phenomenal inspiration: buzzy atmosphere, inspiring content, great lunch, excellent venue, fantastic organisers and punters, really good.”

“Please do this again next year!”

The Reading Revolution, it’s happening!

Samantha will be talking about her novel The Wilderness in the Central Library, William Brown Street, starting at 2.30pm.  The event is free and open to all.  Copies of the book will be on sale at the event and can be signed by the author.

The Wilderness tells the story of Jake, a 65 year old architect who develops Alzheimer’s disease.  It is a clear and moving portrait, not only of a sympathetic man, but also of a heartrending disease as seen from the inside out.

The event will be of particular interest to reading groups, who may want to explore the book further together, and also to general readers and people with a personal or professional contact with anyone who has Alzheimer’s disease.

For any more information about the event, please contact Peter Wallace, Reader Development Officer, at Kensington Library, Kensington, Liverpool, L7 2RJ: tel: 0151 233 4495; email wallacep@liverpool.gov.uk

Professor Raymond Tallis (Visiting Professor, School of English)  will give a lecture entitled ‘Literature, Language and Human Consciousness: One Reader’s Report’ on Wednesday 10th March at 2.30 p.m. in the Leggate Theatre, Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool (followed by a drinks reception).

Raymond Tallis is a philosopher, poet, novelist and cultural critic, and until recently was a physician and clinical scientist.  He was listed in the Economist’s Intelligent Life magazine  (Autumn 2009) as one of the top living polymaths in the world.

ALL WELCOME. Please contact Cathy Rees, School of English (reescm@liverpool.ac.uk) if you plan to attend the lecture.

Led by Gladys Mary Coles, the workshop also gives the chance for attendees to get in touch with their creative side and get writing themselves. Guidance will be on hand to help develop writing technique, so complete novices and practising poets alike are catered for. The array of works on display in the exhibition are sure to drum up inspiration for visitors to produce their own poetic masterpieces.

The session takes place from 10am to 1pm. Places are limited, to book call 0151 478 4178.

For more information on the programme of events taking place, visit the National Museums Liverpool website.

The date of this year’s Penny Readings has now been confirmed as Sunday 5th December at St. George’s Hall, so if you don’t want to miss out on your chance to attend this hugely popular event, get in there now and bid away! You have ten days to bid for February’s tickets. Click here to bid.

For those of you intrigued to know what it’s all about, or for those that attended last year and heard Alexei Sayle, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Roger Phillips and many others and would like to relive some of the highlights, here’s a short video of the Penny Readings 2009 (which is also being shown on the BBC Big Screens in Manchester and Liverpool):

The Penny Readings from Jane Taylor on Vimeo.

To celebrate, Toxteth Library will host a  mini-festival called Through The Eye of The Tiger .There will be lots of community based activities taking place both inside Toxteth Library and in the natural square formed between the library and Windsor House Health Centre just across Windsor Street.

Eleanor Stanton, our Get Into Reading Project Worker based at Toxteth Library, will be there to tell people about the project and hopefully, recruit a few members for her reading groups at the library.

All of the activities – including tai chi, dance classes, food stalls and learning advice – will commence from 1pm and be available through to 8pm at night – we hope that you can make it down there to show your support.

The University of Liverpool Chamber Choir, who graced the stage with their beautiful music at last year’s Penny Readings, will be giving a concert at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Liverpool on Saturday 13th February at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm and interval refreshments are available).

This is a University of Liverpool Concert, which will hope to establish a closer link with the Cathedral. It is also the Choir’s foundation concert to help raise funds for a London tour in late February and raise awareness of the University’s Department of Music, which is going to Shanghai for the World Expo 2010.

Ticket Prices:  £7 (£5 Concessions); tickets available from Cathedral Gift Shop (0151 707 3525) or on the door. Click here to see more Cathedral Concerts.

This is part of an international movement to increase understanding. Unison have trained a number of their members to be able to tell an interesting story based on their lives so they become a ‘living book’. On the day people will have a chance to borrow them so they can listen to their story for about 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions and discussion at the end.

This is a great way to chat to interesting people that you wouldn’t normally meet and promises to be a great way to spend an afternoon. Andy Johnson, Lifelong Learning Services Manager for Liverpool Libraries tells us of his experience:

I went to one in Blackpool and met a woman who is a refugee from Lebanon, heard her story as to why she cane to this country plus fascinating information about her culture plus heard the story of a young man who is involved in Burmese politics. I learned so much that would have been difficult to do in another way.

You can just turn up at the Hornby Library in Central Library on Thursday afternoon – everyone is welcome. If you would like to find out further details, please contact Helen M Titherington at Unison on 0161 661 6731 or email h.titherington@unison.co.uk.

A new website has been launched to give Liverpool residents a say on the future of health and social care. The site, http://www.liverpoollink.org.uk goes live tomorrow and will give visitors the opportunity to comment on services.

They can also communicate directly with officials of the Liverpool Local Involvement Network (LINk), an independent network made up of local people and groups.

Liverpool LINk chair, Tim Oshinaike, said:

“We hope the new website will help get more people involved in our work as it gives residents an easy way to contact our team, find out any information, help with the work we do, and share views on health and social care in the city.”

£50m Central Library plan approved by Liverpool planners

The city centre will have a temporary library while the Central Library is closed for 2½ years for a £50m redevelopment.

Yesterday, the project passed a key milestone when the revamp was given planning permission and listed building consent by the city’s planning committee.

The library will close around June this year and re-open in 2012. We just hope that the temporary arrangements whilst the building is closed mean that the city’s main library has a presence and people are able to continue to read the library’s books.