Reports to Scrutiny Committee
On 5 March Councillor Hacking attended Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee with 2 reports about our libraries. Firstly a report that outlines what has been achieved by our fantastic library service over the last 12 months, and the priority for the upcoming year. Secondly a report about digital inclusion and the work of the digital inclusion team that sits within the library service. Here are the full reports and appendices:
Digital Inclusion Update – bridging the digital divide in Manchester
Watch this video of Councillor Douglas giving a few reasons why our libraries are so important, and so valued by our residents.
Chinese New Year at Central Library
An amazing Sunday Funday event at Central Library for families was for the Year of the Dragon. The building was opened by the lion dancers who performed outside the library, and then entered the building to dance inside. Activities included mask making, dragon themed crafts, and face painting. Entertainment was enjoyed by everyone as there were various performances, a traditional tea ceremony, paper folding activities, and bracelet making from Confucius Institute. There were some wonderful performances from the Mandarin and Cantonese children’s choirs and a mask changing performance by Bowen Education. The Manchester Chinese Centre demonstrated cookie decorating, and provided wonderful solo performances, as well as with the children’s choir. It was an amazing cultural event and all the families really enjoyed it.
Feedback included:
“Thank you for the event, very thoughtful makes us feel like home here”
“Absolutely brilliant. A great space to bring kids, and loads of things to do”
Chorlton Library Refurbishment
Later this month, major refurbishment work begins on the magnificent Chorlton Library. Watch Councillor Hacking give an outline of the works.
Package for Val Scheme
This month, on International Women’s Day we launched the Package for Val Scheme to help tackle period poverty. Find out more about the scheme at our Manchester Libraries blog.
Read more at our Manchester Libraries blog.
World Book Day 2024
Manchester Libraries and Read Manchester celebrated World Book Day 2024 in style with a whole raft of events and book giveaways. We began with author and illustrator Emma Reynolds’ online Zoom sessions and then Nick Sharratt’s in-person visits to Wythenshawe Forum and Moss Side Powerhouse libraries on 6 March and Central Library on World Book Day itself, 7 March. Pupils had a fantastic time drawing along with Nick and hearing the secrets of his famous illustrations.
On World Book Day we also held a massive book giveaway as well as storytime sessions at Wythenshawe Forum Library and on the concourse, with over 1000 books distributed by Read Manchester and our wonderful Literacy Champions.
On the 12 and 13 March, author Josh Silver visited Cedar Mount Academy and CHS South to talk about his acclaimed book Happy Head, the nature of happiness and finding your place in life. Pupils got a chance to contribute their own thoughts and comments on the issues that mean the most to them in their lives.
Our regular library storytime sessions also gave out free copies of the World Book Day titles for younger children, to encourage parents to share time out with a book at home. World Book Day aims to give every child and young person a book of their own, and change lives through a love of books and reading.
Bring Photo ID to Vote: Support from Libraries
Libraries across the city are helping Manchester residents apply for ID to enable them to vote. Local libraries are holding support sessions where staff will be on hand with mobile devices to walk you through the applications process and help you take and upload a photograph. The libraries digital inclusion team are also offering telephone support to talk residents through the form.
International Mother Language Day at Central Library
Central Library staff and attendees celebrated International Mother Language Day with communities from Pakistan, China, Lithuania, Mexico, Hungary, Greece, Poland and Kurdistan. There was the opportunity to talk about traditions, culture, as well as experience new crafts, and to share food. Attendees enjoyed performances from a Kurdish music group, dancing and singing from the Hungarian community, Mexican storytelling and dance, and a presentation about Lithuania. Members of the Chinese community were sharing calligraphy tips and demonstrating some amazing dragon balloon modelling.
Feedback included:
“Such a wonderful event. My baby, my five year old and myself really enjoyed it all. We felt welcome, we learned stuff and have keepsakes to take home to remember the day. Thank you”
“I liked the atmosphere here and the different tables from different countries. The food was fabulous and I learned the alphabet in Greek and some Polish vocabulary”
“Fantastic event! We were at the library by chance, we didn’t know about it and what a lovely surprise. Children loved it and I think the organisation was great”
International Mother Language Day at the Forum Library
Forum Library staff and attendees celebrated International Mother Language Day with a range of crafts and activities! The Afro-Tots group ran a workshop to show everyone how to make African drums, they also delivered an interactive dance session afterwards.
Fresh Start Smart offered attendees some lovely hand massages, nail art and great conversation as a group. Local artist Mandy Cleveland delivered a craft activity to show everyone how to make Ojo do Dios decorations! Lydia Meiying ran a block printing cards activity, and library staff helped children to make wooden hearts and star magnets. It was such a busy event which allowed everyone time to spend the full afternoon enjoying all of the different activities.
Feedback included:
“Thank you for arranging this wonderful event, please arrange more”
International Mother Language Day Activities at North City Library
This year North City Library staff celebrated International Mother Language Day with an exciting range of activities such as LEGO club, storytime, games and crafts. To start off the fun, library staff Audrone and Dawn read ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ to the children in both English and Lithuanian. Children then had the opportunity to decorate wooden hearts with phrases of their choice, or they could have their name written on them in Chinese or Arabic to take home and display.
Imagination Gaming set up a game station with a variety of language games available for everyone to play. The most popular by far was ‘Word on the Street’ followed closely by ‘Concept Kids: Animals’ where there was plenty of confusion when a ‘furry’ animal turned out to be a parrot!
Feedback included:
“It was very fun. It is very cool to enjoy other languages and explore other cultures! Thank you! Alia”
“Good idea. So nice to celebrate our language here. Fatima”
“It’s been a lovely event! Bringing communities together”
Exciting times at the Generator!
It has been an exciting time at the Generator since opening in January, from arranging various free events, to welcoming entrepreneurs, freelancers and hybrid workers from a variety of sectors and backgrounds who have used the space to work, network, hold face-to-face meetings and participate in online meetings.
An official opening from Bev Craig, the leader of the City Council, was held on 7 February. Located on the ground floor of the Town Hall Extension, the team are still offering free trials for new start-ups wanting to use the space.
The Generator team have continued to deliver tours to introduce the new space to businesses and entrepreneurs and are introducing more free events in the space from March. The next event will be an Open Day on 26 March, and the team will offer freelancers and businesses a free co-working day and business support session.
Here is some feedback from people who have used the space:
“Overwhelmed and shocked in the best way! This is one of, if not the best resources for any business in the Greater Manchester region. I’m quite frankly stunned”
“I love it, this works very well for me being divergent”
“Great space. I like it a lot. it’s going to be great to work on my own or invite clients or business partners”
Find out more about the Generator at https://generatormcr.org or arrange a free trial at generator@manchester.gov.uk
Storytelling Week at Didsbury Library
As part of the Storytelling Week activities at Didsbury Library, staff welcomed the wonderful Sophia Hatfield to deliver one of her participatory Story Steps workshops. Broad Oak Primary School teachers brought their KS1 pupils to the library to enjoy the workshop. It was a very interactive session and all of the children were captivated by it! Everyone joined in and contributed to the session beautifully.
International Women’s Day at Hulme Library & Leisure Centre
Hulme Library staff and local families had great fun with their well-being crafting table as they made beautiful little paper & ink flowers along with some suffragette coloured heart mobiles. A lovely group of women from The Boaz Trust joined in the event, one Eritrean women told a member of staff that this was the first time she had participated in a craft and had not used scissors before. Quite the reminder of how different our everyday life experiences can be.
Audrey from Hulme Library’s coffee morning kept everyone laughing, and gasping, at her stories from her life in other countries accompanying her army husband. The coffee morning crew are such a fantastic group of older Hulme residents. A lovely way to celebrate International Women’s Day with a fantastic bunch of women!
International Women’s Day at Central Library
Central Library enjoyed a celebration of International Women’s Day with performances and activities such as Latin American dance and poetry reading! Everyone felt lucky and excited to host this event for some of the communities living in Manchester such as those from Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru and Nicargua. This was the first time many people had visited Central Library, there was an amazing atmosphere.
Feedback included:
“Thank you so much for the opportunity to perform in such an iconic building”
World Book Day Activities at Abraham Moss Library
Abraham Moss Library staff celebrated World Book Day with children from Abraham Moss Primary School. A range of children from Year 1 – 6 attended, and many parents came along too. Everyone had the opportunity to join the library before the activities began so they could borrow books on the day. One of the teachers read a story and everyone was gifted a free World Book Day book!
Workshops to Support Businesses
The Business & IP Centre team continue to deliver a range of workshops to support businesses to start and grow. Sessions have recently included topics such as how to use Canva, make the most of AI tools and how to build a website! Liz from DigiEnable (pictured above) explained how, and why artificial intelligence is increasingly available for all to use. Liz also shared tips with attendees about the various AI tools available, and how they can use them during their business journey!