Posted on Tuesday 3rd October 2023
Danielle Pountney and Tara Spandrzyk from Staffordshire Libraries
Visitors to Staffordshire’s libraries are invited to join in the celebrations for Green Libraries Week, which runs this week (2 to 8 October).
Libraries Week is an annual showcase and celebration of the best that libraries have to offer and the extraordinary things they do to support their communities.
The week-long campaign comes at a time when Staffordshire’s libraries continue to grow and welcome more and more visitors. With 43 libraries and continuing investment, the service welcomed over 1.7 million visits from customers last year.
This year’s theme is #GreenLibraries and will focus on raising awareness of climate change and sustainability, whilst promoting the importance of caring for the environment.
The campaign will see a host of fun activities in the county’s libraries, including exhibitions, author talks, craft workshops, recycling projects and a community garden project.
At Perton library on Saturday 7 October, people are invited to join in a Suncatcher Craft Workshop with local artist Hannah Reynolds and at Biddulph library, visitors can explore the community garden to find out how it helps tackle climate change.
People can learn how to be more environmentally friendly by recycling their crisp packets at Rugeley Library and at Shenstone Library, the Bra bank recycling point shows what can be done with old brassieres. And, at Tamworth Library on 3 October, staff are hosting the ‘Our County, Our Climate - Exploring the Historical Impact of Climate Change on Staffordshire People’.
Burntwood Library is hosting a seed bank where people can take flower seeds for free and donate seeds they no longer want. At Stone Library, the interactive display ‘Transforming the Trent Valley - Tales of the Riverbank tour’ will run throughout the week and everyone is welcome.
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities at Staffordshire County Council said:
“Libraries Week is always a wonderful celebration of our libraries and the amazing things they do and deliver in local communities.
“The theme for this year is Green Libraries, which gives us a great opportunity to remind people about the importance of tackling climate change, a priority for the county council. It’s the small changes we can all make, that when combined can have a big impact.
“We continue to invest in our libraries service and it’s great that more and more people are choosing to join and visit their local library. It’s a real testament to the staff and volunteers and to the many important services available there.”
Green Libraries Week is organised by the Library and Information Association, CILIP, in partnership with Arts Council England, British Library and Libraries Connected.
People can follow the campaign and share their library experiences, stories and photos on social media and by liking Staffordshire Libraries posts using @libraries week and #GreenLibrariesweek.
Further information and details of events taking place in Staffordshire are available at Staffordshire Connects.