Libraries Update – December 2024
Manchester Libraries Lit up for Spellow Library Reopening
Manchester Libraries were proud to offer their support to Liverpool Libraries with the reopening of Spellow Lane Library and Community Hub. Spellow library was torched during the summer’s racist riots and reopened on 1 December. Most Manchester libraries lit a candle in support of Spellow.
Read more at out Manchester Libraries blog.
Christmas Opening Hours
Our libraries remained open over the Christmas period (except on bank holidays), and were heavily used. Libraries offered a safe and welcoming environment for people to stay warm and make use of our various resources. Online services continued to be available, such as access to BorrowBox enabling our customers to read or listen to ebooks and audiobooks at any time.
All of our libraries continue to be available as safe spaces as we begin the new year, where residents of all ages can come in, stay warm, and enjoy a positive environment with plenty of resources, including hot drinks, free newspapers, and support.
Primary Schools Festive Visits to Libraries
Libraries across the city were full of school children this Christmas for festive fun. Over 400 children enjoyed Gav Cross’s Christmas tales at Beswick Library, Moss Side Powerhouse Library, Forum Library and Central Library. Local author Marie Basting also enthralled and informed classes.
Read more about it at our Manchester Libraries blog.
New for Old – our new Manchester Local Images Website is Nearly Here!
The new Manchester Local Images website has been in development from May 2024. This is the city’s main collection of historic photographs and we have partnered with the wonderful team at The Museum Platform to help us build this new resource. They have been working hard to develop a beautiful new website and new features will include:
- Larger digital images with zoom functionality
- An improved and intuitive user interface
- Simplified and powerful search tools
- Commenting feature to share memories or provide us with new information
- Create and share your own galleries of your favourite images
- Streamlined licensing functions so you can purchase images with ease
- A blog area exploring our collection
Alongside that Archives+ volunteers have been working hard to digitise new images for the collection. So far they have scanned 1605 images, representing 30% of the collection. The site aims to launch in mid January and the project continues until the summer so watch this space! Meantime if you still need a regular fix of pictures of our lovely city, you can check out our Manchester Local Images temporary website, or our new Behind the Image series on the Archives+ blog.
Business Events at the Generator
As the end of the year drew near, we took the chance to reflect on 2024 during our December Networking Evening. Attendees were encouraged to share one word on their name tag that summed up their year, encouraging conversation about challenges and celebrations. The group also took part in a lively scavenger hunt that was designed to lead them around the coworking space and discover the facilities on offer.
During December, Generator Royal Mills provided a Mental Health for Entrepreneurs workshop hosted by Fikawelie CIC, which provided attendees with practical skills for protecting their mental wellbeing whilst running a business. We also hosted our third Breakfast Club, where members came together for a morning of coffee and conversation about minimising outgoings and prioritising profit in their businesses. The festive celebrations continued at Generator Royal Mills, where Build a Business held their Solopreneurs Christmas Meetup, with appearances from famous Manchester faces Andy Wilkinson and Angel Delight. At Generator St Peter’s Square, we continued to provide meeting space for the Manchester Youth Council, who gather every Wednesday afternoon.
Generator is funded by the UK government through the UK shared Prosperity Fund.
Holiday Activity and Food Sessions
Six libraries held Holiday Activity and Food Sessions in December. These every popular sessions, featuring craft, music and creative activities, took place at Abraham Moss Library and Leisure Centre, Gorton Library, Longsight Library, Newton Heath Library, Withington Library and Wythenshawe Forum Library.
Winter Welcoming Event – Longsight Library
Longsight Winter Welcoming at Longsight library and beyond was a fantastic fun occasion populated by local children and their families. Artist Emma Martin from Building the Bridge led lantern making workshops in the lead up to the parade. Wish Ribbons with local children’s hopes and dreams were on display outside the library. On the highly anticipated day of the parade, we held a mini lantern making session in the library and each child who made one received a free book donated by Save the Children. We gave away well over a hundred books!
As soon as the winter light faded families made their way outside the library and all the big lanterns were distributed to carry. A giant snail representing the seasons led children and families around the streets of Longsight. The Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Paul Andrews, Andrew Gwynne MP, Cllr Suzanne Richards & Cllr Abid Chohan were all in attendance, opening the parade and enjoying the beauty of such a wonderful occasion.
Saturday Film Club – Central Library
Central Library’s Saturday Film Club is a monthly session suitable for children up to 12 years old (and their grown-ups!) who visit the library to watch an animated film on our big projector screen. It’s a bit like being at the cinema, except it’s even better, because entry and popcorn are completely free, and you can even do some themed crafts while watching the film! Attendees watched Frozen and made some glittery microphones, so we could sing along to the film’s iconic soundtrack! 47 children and 24 adults attended the screening.
Feedback included:
“Really lovely time had by all. Time stood still whilst we enjoyed our children. Thank you!”
“Fantastic to have such an event on a rainy day, accessible for all. My children enjoyed very much”.
“A good movie, good event, good staff, and good popcorn!”
Conversation Club – Central Library
Central Library’s Conversation Club meet was launched by Central Library staff Angela and Alessia, who were recently joined by Claire, a new member of staff who is a qualified ESOL teacher!
The Conversation Club takes place twice a month, and became particularly popular in December when we received a surprise visit from Vic and her students. Vic is a teacher at Manchester College, where she runs an employment course for young adults with SEN moving into employment. 10 of her students started attending the Conversation Club, joining our regular group of about 8-10 learners, which brings our current total number of attendees up to 20. Since Vic’s students joined, our group has become a lot more lively: regular members have been practicing their English with the help of Manchester College’s learners, who in turn have been working on their social skills and meeting new people. Regular activities include human bingo above is a photograph of the clubs Christmas party and Christmas bingo!
Beaver Road Primary School Writing Project – Didsbury Library
Year 4 pupils from Beaver Road visited Didsbury Library in December to work on a project about suspense writing. Firstly, the class enjoyed an introduction to the library, followed by a quiz. Children then looked around the library to find various books as they began to think in more depth about how they could write mysterious and thrilling stories! Each child wrote their own story, and then made them into booklets which are displayed at Didsbury library for everyone to enjoy.
Feedback from the teachers included:
“Year 4 Beaver Road children have enjoyed a wonderful partnership with Didsbury library, this term, working on a number of different writing projects.”
“By connecting with our local library, the children have been really inspired, especially through the initial research and immersion phase of our work.”
“We are proud to share our class anthologies of suspense writing!”
Human Rights Day – Forum library
Human Rights Day was celebrated at the Forum Library with a fantastic exhibition and workshop for high school students delivered by JFK Human Rights, Manchester Enterprise Academy and St Paul’s RC joined us for a very inspiring and fun day.
The activities began with an interactive Q&A, where students explored the concept of human rights and their significance, followed by a brief history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). They then watched a student-centred video on children’s rights, which connected key concepts to real-life situations. In small groups, students explored the exhibition, selecting a human rights cause to focus on. They created campaigns, including a name, slogan, and placard, to advocate for their chosen cause. The session concluded with each group presenting their campaign from the “soap box,” sharing their message with the rest of the class.
The exhibition was designed to inspire students to think critically, collaborate, and develop their voices on human rights issues. It was a memorable experience that brought classroom learning to life.
Central Library Christmas Extravaganza
Our yearly Christmas extravaganza is one of the most popular events in Central Library’s calendar, with 400 children and 600 adults attending on Saturday 14 December. Everyone had an amazing time as they enjoyed mince pies and hot drinks while listening to performances, and socialising. This year’s performers included Loreto School Big Band, Stockport Ukulele Band, Manchester Community Choir, Streetwise Opera and Alan Roberts and Pleiades, who both brought some Christmas folk music to the library.
For the first time this year, staff included a wreath making workshop to the programme, all materials were provided, including hot drinks and mince pies for just £20 per attendant. Needless to say, the workshop was sold out! It wouldn’t be a Christmas extravaganza without our various craft tables, attendees were very busy making Christmas angels and decorating Christmas cards!
Feedback included:
“Great event, we have really enjoyed making Christmas cards + decorations. Thank you!”
“Fab event. So many variety + different selection of arts + crafts to choose from. It’s like crafts galore! Really enjoyed the event. Staff were lovely + helpful as always”
Story Archivists of Manchester
Archives+ recently worked with Z-Arts and MADEMcr to help create a resource for a new educational local history project called ‘Story Archivists of Manchester’, or S.A.M. for short. This exciting project aims to engage schoolchildren with local history through practical workshops where they become apprentice ‘Story Archivists’, exploring historical objects, looking for clues to help understand what life was like for children at different periods in Manchester’s history, and linking this to the rights of children today.
Archives Officer Jenny was filmed in the archive strong rooms talking about the work that she and the archives team do at Archives+. Jenny also presented some items from the Manchester collections, linking these to topics the children went on to explore in the workshops. The pilot workshops took place in Webster Primary School at the end of November, and children took part in lots of different activities based on the objects in their story archive boxes, including a story walk, making their own artefacts and playing with old-fashioned toys (marbles were extremely popular!). We’re really pleased we had the opportunity to participate in such a lovely project! Read more at our Archives+ website!
