Our Dreams of Jasmine on Valentine’s Day

Our Dreams of Jasmine is a book and digital sound work that brings together a selection of found and written Arabic and Persian poems, chosen, performed and adapted by Jessica El Mal working with women with experience of migration living in Bootle.

Creative Session support

We’re on the look out for a few creative individuals who can lend an occasional supportive hand with our sessions, events and happenings in the libraries. Now and then, we need some support to make sure that our events run smoothly and all participants feel welcomed, engaged with, and well looked after. 

neighbourhood skills share

At The Library are about to begin a new programme of creative activity in Netherton Library.

We’re Hiring: Communications Manager

At The Library are looking for an Arts Marketing professional to help to shape, lead and communicate our progamme, and share our work with new audiences and tell our story on a national stage. 

Artist & Creative Development Sessions

Artists and Creatives Development 1-2-1s. 

Poetry, music and celebrations at the library

As part of a three-day intensive, Jessica el Mal led a series of workshops, trips and celebrations last week, inviting women to connect with nature, plants and gardens through poetry, sound and music.

Jessica el Mal Commission

This week, we’re looking forward to starting an invitational and light touch series of workshops as part of Jessica el Mal’s commission with the library. Jessica will invite women with experience of migration to explore nature through poetry, music and sound.

Canal Readings

Come and read with us! As part of our canal walk and readings programme at Netherton Library, we’ve been spending time immersing ourselves in nature while we get lost in a good story.

Our new/old name: At the Library

Cultural Learning & Participation Apprentice

DEADLINE PASSED: Would you like to develop skills in participatory arts practice, working with artists and communities within a Library setting? Come work with us at At the Library as our new Cultural Learning and Participation Apprentice!

community champions: formby asparagus

For April’s Chopping Club, we visited Formby to enjoy the asparagus trail that runs along the coast, and stopped off for a picnic in the sun.

Kitchen Table Collective Celebration: pictures, recipes & a poem

On the 25 March, we invited members of the Kitchen Table Collective to join us for a fantastical feast at Crosby Library, using our new ceramic dinner service for the first time. The dinner service was carefully been crafted by local people over a series of clay making sessions over Autumn, led by Aliyah Hussain.

Inside the Kitchen Table Collective

The Kitchen Table Collective is an ongoing project that has brought the art of ceramics into our homes and our library.

time to talk day

Today it is Time to Talk day — a day dedicated to opening up and having conversations about our mental health. Sometimes putting off talking about mental health seems to be the easy option, but charities such as Mind and Rethink Mental Illness encourage friends, families, communities and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and open up about how they are feeling — in the process, changing lives.

2021 Reflection

Merry Christmas from the whole At the Library team! After a year like no other, we hope you can have a festive and restful time over the Christmas holidays. 

Libraries Week

From 4th – 11th of October its Libraries Week – a celebration of libraries across the country and the roles they play in our communities.

Mental Health Awareness Week

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week — an annual event that focuses on celebrating good mental health for everyone, everywhere, no matter your age, ability or location. This year’s theme is nature because a deeper connection to the natural landscapes around us is central to supporting health and happiness. From simply taking a walk, to planting some herbs and getting creative in the garden — there are plenty of free ways to build a better connection with nature, which will bring you joy. 

Gardens in fiction

As you might know, we are designing a new garden for Bootle Library — a restorative space where we can go to read and relax or come together for workshops in the future.  At the very beginning of 2020 we hosted a series of collaborative design workshops with artist Harun Morrison to plan how we might transform the patch of land between the library and the jobcentre and the concept for the L-Shaped garden was born.

International Women’s Day

For over a Century, women around the world have been celebrating International Women’s Day — a global movement advocating for to the rights of women, to vote, be trained, educated, hold parliment and end discrimination, injustice and ineqality once and for all. 

Random Acts of Kindness Day

For Random Acts of Kindness Day, we are thinking about our friend Arthur, whose acts of kindness are legendary in Bootle and Waterloo. Arthur has been really ill the last couple of months but we hear he is on the mend, we’re looking forward to seeing him again when he’s better. 

Remedies for Resistance – Final call for Remedies

Do we know how to care for ourselves and each other? What is collective care? How do we practice collective care within our communities? Do we have medical knowledge? Do we have our own remedies? Have these passed along through family, kinship or through networks? How do we know or find about them? Who do we share them with and how?

Freshly Cut Grass — Afternoon

Take a step back from what you are doing, relax, and breathe for a little while. Designed to help you de-stress, we are so delighted to share the afternoon version of Frances Disley’s audio-guided imaginary journeys with you. Whether you are having a really busy day or not doing anything at all, take a moment to unwind in nature — without moving anywhere.

Freshly Cut Grass – Morning journey

Escape from it all for a little while and come on a journey through nature —without leaving the house. This is the first resource in a series of three, designed by artist Frances Disley to help you relax in the morning before you start your day.

Autumn Programme At the Library

As the days start to feel a little shorter and the weather a little cooler, we are pleased to share our Autumn-Winter season programme of creative events and activities to help us to re-connect and keep spirits lifted, as we start to be able to come together again.  With a theme of wellbeing, the programme includes a mixture of online sessions and activities that can be enjoyed at home, walks and talks and outdoor meet-ups. 

I Search for an Artwork with These 25 Properties

I Search for an Artwork with These 25 Properties is a word search by Harun Morrison, who is working with us to design a new garden for Bootle Library