Janet Macleod Trotter is best known for her historical novels set in the North East, such as ‘The Jarrow Lass’ and ‘Chasing the Dream’. Her latest novel, set in 1976, is inspired by her own adventures whilst on an overland bus trip to Kathmandu.
Janet spoke to us before her recent author visit to City Library and you can listen to the conversation below:
An update from the new Information and Digital Service Manager:
Staff within our teams at City Library have had a bit of a change over but it’s still business as usual.
13-19 June was National Carer’s Week and we celebrated with a marketplace event at City Library. It was great to see the Bewick Hall buzzing with approximately 90 people (and 1 dog!!) who came to find out how they could be supported as carers. They got the chance to learn how to play the ukulele as well! In addition, the Information and Digital team hosted an introduction to online shopping session where we looked at how to buy things from Amazon and how to save money on food shopping through My Supermarket – if you haven’t been on this website before do check it out. We hope this will become an annual event in the City Library during National Carer’s Week.
We’ve also had a host of other agencies in using the City Library this past month including the Housing Advice Centre, the community police, Connexions, Your Homes Newcastle advice and support team and Duke of Edinburgh representatives to name but a few! These agencies use our space on level 1 which can be booked for FREE (yes you did here that correctly – free!!) by any information and guidance (IAG) provider. Agencies have access to prime drop-in space in the stunning library atrium, high visitor numbers, a bookable interview room for confidential appointments, information display facilities, free wi-fi and much more. If you fit into this category and would like to promote your service to a new audience contact the Information and Digital team on 0191 2774100 or email room.bookings@newcastle.gov.uk.
Alongside many other training sessions, Nick, Luke and Anne delivered ebook taster sessions to visually impaired users at MEA Housein Newcastle as part of Make a Noise in Libraries Week. This was a learning curve for all of us as we did not have experience of the screen reader software called ‘Guide’ which Newcastle Society of the Blind use on their PCs. This software not only enlarges the text, but also guides users around the page without having to use a mouse and can speak the text out loud. During the session, we showed the participants what an e-reader looks like and how it can enlarge the text so it can be more easily read. In two of the sessions we had a Sony e-reader as well as an Amazon Kindle and opinion was divided between which the group preferred! The Kindle was liked for the largeness of the text and for the contrast between the letters and the back of the page, but the Sony reader was liked for its touch screen and its navigation….so the group concluded that a combination of both of them would be just perfect. There’s a proposition for you Sony and Amazon!
In June we hosted our first business workshop in partnership with Newcastle Science City. This exciting new partnership will bring a range of workshops and public lectures on wide range of topics designed to help businesses grow including subjects from PR to market research, sales and marketing to recruitment and HR. Our first workshop, delivered by Fred Pernet from proAgile and Simon Green from Newcastle Science City, was on the subject of digital innovation and was very well received by audience members. Our next event is called Law for Business and is on Wednesday 29 June from 8:30am – 10am at City Library. This session is aimed at individuals with new product or service ideas that could be turned into businesses but need an introduction to legal issues. We look forward to seeing you there!
Sharon Reeve
Information and Digital Service Manager
Well it’s been a whirlwind couple of months for the Heritage team. We hosted a full and fast paced programme of events during Local History Month in May. Events ranged from talks about the WW2 bunker RAF Blakelaw, a cartoon workshop with the creator of Viz, Simon Donald, and guided walks around Jesmond and High Heaton.
Forthcoming events include an exhibition about the interwar artist, Byron Dawson, a talk about the history of one of Newcastle’s best known picture houses, the Tyneside Cinema, and a new major exhibition exploring the region’s sporting history. Find out more in the latest Page Turner newsletter.
Shields Road, circa 1900
We’ve also had our fair share of television crews visiting the section. We took part in an item that was broadcast on the local news on the eve of the Royal Wedding. You may have heard that the Duchess of Cambridge has Geordie roots and we’ve got the paperwork to prove it! Using parish registers and census records we were able to show that the Duchess had ancestors who originated from an area at the top of Shields Road – known then as Byker Hills. They were a mining family who moved from Newcastle to County Durham.
There was also a visit from the BBC’s ‘Who Do you Think You Are’ production team complete with a famous face who has local connections. Filming in the heritage section took a full day and the celebrity was a great hit with the public and staff. We’ve been sworn to secrecy for the moment- but watch this space…
We are delighted that the History Club has been nominated as a finalist for the prestigious CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award alongside Newcastle Libraries’ NEALIS project. View videos and more information about the projects here. The winner will be announced at the CILIP Umbrella conference on 13 July 2011.
Newcastle City Libraries now subscribe to the Find My Past geneaology website. Members of the library can access both the Find My Past and Ancestry websites free of charge in any Newcastle Library. (Please note you must be accessing these links in one of our libraries to have full access to the searches.)
Kath Cassidy
Heritage Service Manager
Page Turner is a guide to the latest news and events occurring at Newcastle Libraries.
Following its three month closure for building works, improvements to access and installation of self issue, Jesmond Library finally unveiled its new look to the community on Monday 13 June.
At 9am our first eager customers streamed through the new automatic opening doors, the mums with babies and buggies amazed and absolutely delighted at how easily they can now get into the library. No more struggling with the old heavy doors! Throughout the day staff served refreshments in the new community room with adjoining kitchen so our customers could relax and chat. The majority of our customers were overjoyed to have the library open again (we received cards and gifts from a few of our regulars) and they were absolutely delighted with its new look. The first response from many was their impression of how light and spacious the library appeared. The unique new carpet and dazzling white ceiling with new light fittings received many compliments.
At 10:30am Jesmond’s very own town cryer Marjorie Dodds appeared in her full regalia and outside the entrance doors proceeded to ring her bell loudly calling ‘oyez oyez’ before proclaiming the library’s reopening in verse and welcoming everyone through the doors. It was a proclamation that could be heard some distance! Marjorie then went on to announce the glad news around the shops further down the street and on Acorn Road. She certainly succeeded in catching people’s attention! She was back later that afternoon to proclaim from the Starbucks corner and to families making their way from West Jesmond Primary school.
The very busy day rounded off with a fully booked event making full use of the new community room facilities with a fascinating talk by retired police inspector and forensic artist Norman Kirtlan on ‘the real life CSI’. He involved the audience from the beginning in composing a profile of the perpetrator of a particularly nasty crime. This was strong stuff, not for the fainthearted, and the audience loved it!
It’s hard to believe that it’s exactly a year since the whole planning process of revamping Jesmond library began. There have been so many people involved in making the project a success. Thanks are due to the Jesmond Library staff who worked tirelessly in the weeks prior to reopening and the staff who worked so hard in driving vans to and fro delivering books, furniture, and equipment.
Sue Harrison
Area Service Manager, East Cluster
The CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award highlights and rewards good practice in any innovative library and information projects which change lives, bring people together and demonstrate creativity whilst developing staff and services.
We are pleased to announce that two projects we have been involved in have been nominated for the award!
The History Club
Our Tyneside started back in 2009 in partnership with Better Days, a charity working with adults with learning difficulties, the Sage in Gateshead and Newcastle Libraries. Initially lasting 12 weeks the weekly club aimed to educate and engage participants with their local heritage in a safe and friendly environment.
Taking part in a variety of activities (research, photography, creative writing, music and crafts) as well as guided tours and talks, the group grew in confidence, self esteem and enjoyed the sessions so much that they continued to meet every week. Newcastle Libraries launched The History Club in April 2010, open to any adult with learning difficulties. Topics have included ‘The Great Fire of Newcastle’, ‘Newcastle United’ and ‘The Ghosts of Newcastle’. The History Club has become a vital part of participants’ and staff’s lives, with 100% of participants reporting that they find it fun. View The History Club video below.
The NEALIS Project: North East Accessible Library and Information Services
The NEALIS Project has been working since November 2007 to improve library, information and reading services to blind and partially sighted people across North East England. Its focus has been on developing low cost, practical ways to improve library information and reading services to blind and partially sighted people. Training days for staff have been held and a VIP area with a specially adapted PC and screen has been created at Newcastle City Library. Young people on a local Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme have been paired with visually impaired people to act as reading buddies. View the NEALIS Project video below.
The winner will be announced at the CILIP Umbrella conference on 13 July 2011. Find out more about the Libraries Change Lives Award.
A blog update from the Community Libraries Manager, Janice Hall:
As the football season closes for another year we know that summer has arrived. For the Children’s Team at City Library things are well under way to get the Summer Reading Challenge into full swing. All children in the city aged 5-12 are invited to take part. Their challenge is to read at least six books during the school summer holidays. There will be lots of extra activities and events taking place for children in libraries over the summer – view our events calendar or subscribe to the e-newsletter to keep up to date.
We recently had the pleasure of sharing the work we do to promote books to children with a colleague, Huda Al Yafai from Qatar Museums. Huda has joined in with story times in libraries, schools, children’s centres and other venues and observed the training we have undertaken to support our activities. When dashing between libraries in a heavy shower she refused the offer of an umbrella explaining that the summer rain and rolling clouds were an absolute joy to her. She is hoping to return in November for the Northern Children’s Book Festival. Perhaps the winter showers won’t be quite as joyous though she would like to experience snow!
We were delighted with the news that Julia Donaldson has been announced as the new Children’s Laureate. Julia is known primarily for her picture books, which include ‘The Gruffalo’, ‘Stick Man’, ‘Tiddler’, ‘Room on the Broom’ and ‘The Snail and the Whale’. But her first love was songwriting and she continues to write not only songs, but also poems, plays and fiction for older children such as the ‘Princess Mirror-Belle’ series. Julia is a very committed supporter of libraries and also Northern Children’s Book Festival which she has visited many times. View Julia Donaldson’s books on the online library catalogue.
Photo: Julia Donaldson and her husband at the Northern Children’s Book Festival
Just a brief update on my own reading. I am continuing with the C.J. Sansom books but am also reading a wonderful children’s book by local author Eva Ibbotson who sadly died last year. The book, ‘One Dog and His Boy’, describes the dramatic actions of Hal who discovers that his new pet Fleck is only on loan from a dog rental agency. View Eva Ibbotson’s books on the online library catalogue.
Finally our community library in Jesmond has reopened to the public today! The library will feature new doors, a new community room, new boiler, new accessible public toilet, new flooring and lighting system, and self issue facilities for books and other media. The local town crier will be announcing the opening of the library around the streets of Jesmond and encouraging everyone to visit.
Janice Hall
Libraries Development Manager (Communities)
Gordon Taylor recently visited City Library to promote his debut novel ‘Cometh the Man’ – the first part of a trilogy set in Northumberland during the 1820s. The novel traces the life and times of the Davidson family, in particular the character of Nathaniel who flees home to seek his fortune in South Africa.
Gordon’s event at City Library was a great success with customer comments including:
“Whole evening very interesting and informative, well done.”
“Good to hear personal experience of the author in his writing.”
For those who missed Gordon’s visit there is an interview with him below which he kindly had time for before his event.
Thursday 30 June
6.30pm
City Library
Robin Tudge will be visiting City Library to promote his new book ‘The No-Nonsense Guide to Global Surveillance’ – a detailed and fascinating history of this controversial and complex subject.
Robin is co-author of ‘The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories’, has published articles in The Guardian and Daily Telegraph and has been interviewed by the BBC and other radio stations.
Tickets for this event are free and you can reserve your place by phoning 0191 2774100 or emailing information@newcastle.gov.uk.
Exciting new writer Beda Higgins burst on to the region’s literary scene by winning first prize in the Mslexia Short Story Competition in 2009 and then went on to win the Northern Writers’ Award in 2010. Beda will be visiting the library to talk about her new work ’Chameleon’, a collection of 12 short stories exploring the human condition.
Thursday 23 June
6:15pm, City Library
Reserve your place today for your chance to meet an exciting new voice in local literature. For your free ticket phone 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
Chocoholics are welcome to visit City Library on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 June when we’ll have chocolate demonstrations, chocolate workshops, chocolate story-telling, chocolate science, chocolate cocktails … and, of course, chocolate for you to eat!
Meet renowned Scottish patissier William Curley, one of the world’s most exciting and talented chocolatiers. Learn how to match up chocolate to fine teas with chocolatier Jane Williams of Davenport’s Chocolates. Explore the science behind chocolate with the Centre for Life who will be in Princess Square outside City Library all day on Sunday.
Find out more about the Chocolate Festival
The Chocolate Festival is part of the EAT! Newcastle Gateshead Festival which takes place at venues across the City from 17 – 26 June.
In February we invited the people of Newcastle to go on record and be part of history in a project, in partnership with the British Library, which celebrated the North East’s language and dialect. The region’s favourite Geordie words and phrases were recorded at City Library in a special booth which took a sample of the region’s diverse accents. These words and accents will be collected by the British Library to become part of a living time capsule which will be studied by future generations.
Favourite words were also collected from around the region via email, telephone and in person and the most popular words are in the ‘word cloud’ below which is a visual representation of their popularity. The bigger a word in the cloud, the more times is was suggested.
The top 20 Geordie words as nominated by people from across the region were:
1 Gannin (Going)
2 Canny (Well, fine, very)
3 Clarts (Mud)
4 Hinny (Honey, sweetheart, friend)
5 Divvent (Do not)
6 Clarty (Muddy)
7 Hoy (Throw)
8 Nettie (Toilet)
9 Doon (Down)
10 Lass (Woman, girl, wife)
11 Hacky (Dirty)
12 Hadaway (Go away)
13 Hyem (Home)
14 Plodge (Wade)
15 Toon (Town)
16 Why-aye (Yes, I agree)
17 Alreet (Alright)
18 Claggy (Sticky)
19 Knaa (Know, no)
20 Marra (Workmate, a match/equal)
(This is a rough indication of the most popular. Where words received the same number of votes, they are then ordered alphabetically in this list.)
A staff blog to update you on the recent activities of the Information and Digital team based at City Library:
During May we ran a series of events for Spring Online and to support Newcastle Fashion Week. Team members Nick and Anne ran sessions on how to ‘Make Do and Mend Online’, giving guidance on where to find instructions and videos on how to do anything from replacing zips in jeans to crochet for beginners. There was also a session on buying vintage clothing and accessories online that had tips on how to get the most out of eBay as well as getting in touch with people who have the same interests.
Pic courtesy of Newcastle Fashion Week
A new member of staff, Sarah, is now working with the Information and Digital Team on projects to promote digital inclusion with UK Online Centres. It is her mission to recruit Digital Champions in the local community to encourage as many people as possible to try out the internet. She will be out and about with her trusty laptop and has already been speaking to Mecca Bingo as a potential partner. The Pass It On website states that 441,225 new people have gone online nationally since 2010…we are playing a valuable role in this work!
In June, Anne is organising an event for National Carers Week for anyone who has a caring role. The Market Place Event takes place at the City Library on Thursday 16 June. There will be a range of organisations available to offer information, advice and support, such as looking after your own health and taking a break from caring. We will be offering a free internet taster for beginners from 12:30pm – 1:30pm which is an introduction to online shopping. This session will save you money and avoid queues by helping you shop safely online. You can also have a go at playing the ukulele or try out our Wii-fit sessions!
Also in June our Work Clubs will be starting again to help anyone who is seeking work gain the skills to apply for jobs online and to put together a CV. The last Work Club sessions at City Library resulted in at least three club members getting back into employment. Attendance at the clubs is voluntary and is a way of gaining confidence with new IT skills. Please contact 0191 277 4100 or information@newcastle.gov.uk for more information or to join.
Kerry Bossons
Information and Digital Service Manager
Visitors to City Library who are blind or partially sighted will soon be able to enjoy all aspects of our award winning venue with the start of a brand new service.
Reading Buddies will be launched on Wednesday 8 June at 11am on level 3 of City Library and has been designed in partnership with NEALIS (North East Accessible Library and Information Services), the RNIB, the Guide Dog Association and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
At Wednesday’s launch the library’s first Reading Buddies will be unveiled as students Aiden Woof, 22, Katharine Holden, 18, and Alex Davies who is 16 years old.
Each of the volunteers has received training and a recognised qualification from the Guide Dog Association and will be using their new skills to help visitors who have visual impairments use facilities at the library including screen readers. They can also provide assistance choosing materials from a range of formats available such as MP3’s, CDs and e-books.
They have also received training in assisting customers with Your Reading Choices, an online questionnaire which points visually impaired people to the best reading format for their current needs. Aiden, Katherine and Alex will be using their new skills and experiences to count towards the Volunteering section of their Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards.
Taking part in the scheme and becoming a Reading Buddy has given the new volunteers a chance to understand more about those who are visually impaired and learn new communications skills.
Tony Durcan, Newcastle City Council’s Director of Culture, Libraries & Lifelong Learning said: “It is really important that all people have equal access to reading opportunities. We are very excited about this new Reading Buddies scheme, and think it will make a real difference to blind and partially sighted readers. And we really hope that as well as helping existing readers, it will encourage new people to use our services”
The idea behind Reading Buddies came from the NEALIS project which aims at improving library, information and reading services to blind and partially sighted people throughout North East England. It is a wide ranging partnership project across a variety of organisations including 12 public library authorities.
Reading Buddies will be launched as part of the RNIB ‘Make a Noise in Libraries Fortnight’ which is a national campaign to encourage visually impaired people to continue reading.
For more information about Reading Buddies please phone City Library on 0191 2774100.
The popularity of Harry Potter has encouraged more and more adults to take a fresh look at books for children and teenagers. Whether for bedtime reading or to pass the time on the daily commute there are some excellent books which adults can enjoy so here is a selection.
1) Try Rick Riordan who retells Greek myths in the ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series’.
View Rick Riordan’s books on the online library catalogue
2) Kevin Crossley-Holland’s ‘Seeing Stone’ trilogy is a magical take on Arthurian legend.
View Kevin Crossley-Holland’s books on the online library catalogue
3) Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ novels are modern classics.
View Philip Pullman’s books on the online library catalogue.
4) Stephen Lawhead revisits Robin Hood’s story in a fresh and exciting way in the ‘King Raven’ trilogy.
View Stephen Lawhead’s books on the online library catalogue.
5) Julia Golding’s ‘Companions Quartet’ explores environmental issues and mythical beasts.
View Julia Golding’s books on the online library catalogue.
6) Charlie Fletcher’s ‘Stoneheart’ trilogy deals with bereavement and loss and at the same time is a fast-paced adventure set in the streets of London.
View Charlie Fletcher’s books on the online library catalogue.
Hopefully that’s enough to tempt you. Happy reading!
