Archive film footage recording one hundred years of North East sport will be showcased at two venues as part of this year’s Late Shows. The newly digitised footage will feature at both the Discovery Museum and Newcastle City Library on Saturday 19 May from 7pm – 10pm.

The one hour film show reels will run on continuous loop throughout the evening, drop in at any time.

The free film shows will include footage of Newcastle United taking on Sunderland AFC at St James’ Park in 1913, athletics and swimming competitions in Gateshead Stadium and Tynemouth open air pool in the 1960s, and an array of amateur films of sports and gala days across the North East.

Tynemouth Open Air Swimming Pool, 1963

A number of sporting events filmed as part of the centenary of the Blaydon Races in 1962 will also feature. There will also be regional television news stories from the 1970s and 1980s revisiting the more recent sporting past, examining the early careers of local heroes Brendan Foster and Paul Gascoigne.

This important archive film footage has been digitised as part of the Northern Region Film and Television Archive’s Fast Forward: North East Sport on Film project, and is the first in a series of film shows and events taking place across the region this summer.

For more information on the Fast Forward project contact the Northern Region Film and Television Archive at Teesside University on 01642 384022 or email enquires@nrfta.org.uk.

Fast Forward: North East on Film is supported by the National Lottery through the BFI and Creative England.

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On 23 April, Newcastle Libraries celebrated World Book Night in style. This was a chance for us to share the joy of reading, both inside and outside of the library. Over one hundred staff and customers applied to be book givers, and we distributed a staggering 2400 FREE books across the city, double what we did last year.

As it was the date of Shakespeare’s birth (and death) we decided to kick start the programme with a book swap at the Theatre Royal while the unveiling of their statue ‘Mercutio’ took place. A total of one hundredbooks were given out within an hour!

Library staff, teenage ‘My Voice’ volunteers, members of our children’s reading group and our local councillor distributed books across the city centre, in coffee shops, bars and the Tyneside Cinema.

The celebration continued with a performance from Silver Linings which got the audience to dancing and singing in the atrium. The atmosphere was already buzzing when we welcomed our fabulous visiting author Adele Parks, who was excited to be involved with World Book Night, and did a fantastic ‘meet the author’ session. The audience were gripped with tales of Adele’s life and the inspiration behind her novels which included her latest title ‘About Last Night’. Our ‘My Voice’ volunteers excitedly interviewed Adele without any hesitation. Listen to this interview below.

We also involved talented local actors ‘Spectrum Arts’ who spent their Sunday mornings rehearsing intensely for ‘Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits’. Customers followed the group around the building enthralled in the scenes and costumes.

We were fortunate to be one of several satellite venues to live stream a World Book Night event from Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank where top authors helped spread the message of how empowering reading can be.

If you would like to be part of World Book Night 2013 register your details. From personal experience, this is a chance not to be missed!

Sharon Reeve
Reading and Learning Service Manager

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An update from Linda Routledge, Library and Information Assistant…

At the recent arts and crafts club at City Library we had great fun making a 3D spring flower arrangement and Origami jumping frogs.  We started the session with some jokes from the book ‘Silly Jokes and Giggles’ by Philip Yates which broke the ice and with the new members of the group.  It was great to have a mixture of boys and girls attending, with ages ranging from six to fourteen. We all agreed that the next session cannot come quick enough.  The only thing missing was time, which we ran out off, so as the saying goes time flies when you’re having fun!

Ask at your local library to find out about your nearest free craft session, or alternatively phone 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.

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The Jesmond Community Festival 2012 starts with a grand opening concert on Friday 27 April and lasts until Sunday 13 May. There is something for everyone, from toddlers to pensioners, including choral concerts, poetry readings, family activities, walking tours, music, a fair and much more!

As well as a Jesmond photograph exhibition and children’s treasure trail, the events below will be taking place at Jesmond Library.

Tyne Rhyme and Wine
Thursday 10 May, 6:15 – 7:45pm
A lively evening of readings by popular local poets Marilyn Longstaff, Sheree Mack and Chris Robinson.  Glass of wine and nibbles on arrival. Advance booking is required by phoning 0191 277 4100 or ask at any library.

Lunchtime Recital
Friday 11 May, 12:30 – 1:30pm
Jesmond Library, St George’s Terrace
Join us for an entertaining festival of music with local musician Mary Mooney. Refreshments available. No need to book.

Ian Gillard’s Forensic Workshop for Children
Saturday 12 May, 2pm – 3:30pm
 Jesmond Library, St George’s Terrace
Calling all budding young detectives! Find out how to investigate fingerprints, DNA and so much more at this fascinating workshop suitable for all children of school age. Advance booking is required by phoning 0191 277 4100 or ask at any library.

For more information visit the Jesmond Community Festival webpage.

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Local photographer Keith Pattison spent a week at Cruddas Park Library taking photographs of the customers who visited.  They either held up the book they borrowed of wrote down the reason for their trip to the library. His innovative project highlights the many different ways people use their library and looks at the role libraries play in the local community. The images have been compiled in his new book, ‘face BOOK – A Week in the Life of a Branch Library’, which will be launched alongside Keith’s exhibition on Tuesday 24 April at 10:30am at Cruddas Park Shopping Centre. You can also take a look at the images online on Keith’s website.

View the face BOOK images

David Almond, celebrated author of the children’s book ‘Skellig’ will be supporting the opening of the new exhibition. Tony Durcan, Director of Culture, Libraries and Lifelong Learning, said:  “Libraries continue to play such a valuable role in our communities and this exhibition and book will give people the chance to learn why they continue to be important to those who use them.  Keith has done a wonderful job in bringing the community together for this project so I am delighted to be helping support this exhibition.”

face BOOK will remain open at Unit 12, Cruddas Park Shopping Centre until Saturday 5 May 2012.

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Sorry about the pun!

James Bond is in the news at present – there’s an upcoming film and William Boyd has just been commissioned to write a new James Bond book.  Apparently he is reading all the Ian Fleming books to think his way into the project. We’ve got them in stock, so why not read them now? View our books by Ian Fleming.

And for James Bond wannabes we’ve got books on fast cars, exotic locations and sophisticated cocktails! Or perhaps you’d prefer the book ’101 Things To Do To Become a Superhero (or Evil Genius)’?

We’ve also got other books by William Boyd if you haven’t read any of his work. View our books by William Boyd.

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Could you spare a few hours a week or a month to help people no longer able to visit their library and improve the quality of their life?

If you do have some time to give, Newcastle Libraries and WRVS would like to hear from you to help us with our Home Delivery Service.

We are working in partnership with the WRVS and are looking for friendly, helpful people to assist with our Home Delivery Service. You or a friend will need to have access to a car however we will pay for your expenses. Library staff will continue to select books for customers but volunteers will help to deliver them.

David Fay, Newcastle City Libraries Manager, said:  “We are delighted to be working with WRVS to help us reach some of our residents who can no longer visit their local library.”

Carol Nevison, WRVS Service Delivery Manager for the North East and Cumbria said: “We need new volunteers to help us to deliver this highly valued service and would encourage anyone who is interested to get in touch to find out more.  Training and support will be provided and our volunteers tell us that they gain a real sense of achievement by making a real difference to people’s lives.”

If you think you could help out or need more information call WRVS on 0845 601 4670 and ask about the Newcastle Home Delivery Service.

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Witch-hunters, ghostly figures and body-snatchers who used to roam the streets of Newcastle are brought to life in a new app which has been created using information from the city’s archives and libraries.

The Hidden Newcastle app is free and has been produced by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and Newcastle Libraries. It reveals stories about real life historical characters who once lived and worked in the city.

Each story in the app is linked to the location and you can unlock more stories as you move around the city.

People featured in Hidden Newcastle include Cuckoo Jack who in the early to mid 1800s worked as a bargeman on the River Tyne. His knowledge of the river led to a profitable sideline in retrieving dead bodies from the water and selling them to the council.

Not all of the stories are so gruesome, however, including the tale of Geordie Woodford who was credited with helping to save people from the flood of 1771 which swept away part of the old Tyne Bridge.

The app is currently available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with an Android version currently in development.

Find out more about the Hidden Newcastle app.

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(Staff selecting books for Home Delivery Service customers)

If so and you live in Newcastle, you can apply to use the Home Delivery Service free of charge.

We deliver to anyone living in Newcastle:

• Who is unable to visit their local library due to either permanent or temporary ill health;
• Who has caring responsibilities;
• Who has a permanent disability.

We have a selection of large print books and books on tape or CD and can visit you in your home every four weeks.

For more details visit the Home Delivery Service webpage, phone 0191  277 4100 or email  information@newcastle.gov.uk.

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We recently held the first session of the new Sunday arts and crafts club started in City Library.  This was the first time we had had the crafts on a Sunday.  At 2:30pm prompt the doors opened and to my surprise there were nine children already eagerly waiting to join the club!

After some quick introductions to each other, we enjoyed the story of the owl who was afraid of the dark. We then made an owl using lambs wool, which came all the way from Sky in Scotland (kindly donated by a member of staff) some twigs, leaves and a lot of imagination.

After some wonderful creations of barn owls and tawny owls, we had time left over to make a pot-pourri cup, decorated with ribbon and diamantes, for each of the children’s mums as a Mother’s Day gift. A lovely afternoon was had by all!

The FREE children’s arts and crafts club is the last Sunday of every month at 2:30pm, following the regular children’s story time, and is suitable for ages 8 and above (under 8s can be accompanied by an adult). The next session is on 25 March 2012.

Written by Linda, Library and Information Assistant at City Library.

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Newcastle Business and Intellectual Property Centre is located on level 1 of City Library and is dedicated to helping businesses grow by providing them with the information, skills and resources crucial to success.

Opening in September 2011, the Centre is supported by the British Library and is the only dedicated Business and Intellectual Property Centre outside London. It serves as a resource hub for small to medium businesses, business start-ups and entrepreneurs throughout the region, offering everything from guest speakers, workshops and one-to-one advice sessions to high quality hardcopy and electronic resources, all free of charge. It can help you research your business ideas, protect your intellectual property, develop your business and improve your skills.

For more information, including the chance to book tickets for upcoming events, please consult the BIPC website.

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Westerhope Primary School were very keen for us to help them celebrate their Book Week and the international World Book Day. Staff from Fenham Library arranged to visit the school to tell stories to the nursery and reception classes. The children were very excited to receive visits from ‘the library lady’ and eager to participate in stories!

‘Walking Through the Jungle’ was very well received with the children joining in with very loud animal noises and a song about a crocodile doing its washing at the bottom of the river. Story number two was ‘Lullabyhullaballoo’ which the children again embraced with great enthusiasm, especially those from each group who were given the job of banging two pan lids together!

A visit by the mobile library was also very hectic. Staff were kept very busy with 159 children coming onto the mobile library to listen to stories and select books.

The children, school staff and library staff all enjoyed the celebrations and we look forward to doing it again. Thanks you to everyone who helped make the event such a success. Above is one of the many thank you cards we received from the children.

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Pick up a copy of the latest Page Turner newsletter in a library near you or view a copy online below.

Download a copy of the March – May 2012 edition.

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Children in Sandgate, Newcastle, 1890

City Library recently hosted an entertaining talk with Christopher Goulding from the Royal Grammar School to celebrate the bicentenary Charles Dickens’ birth. The talk outlined Dickens’ links with Newcastle, such as his performances at the Music Hall on Newson Street and his account of the aftermath of the Great Fire of Newcastle in 1854. If you missed the talk you can listen to Christopher Goulding talk about the Dickens legacy with Kerry Bossons from Newcastle Libraries.

Look out for the forthcoming exhibition on Charles Dickens and Victorian Newcastle which opens at City Library on 9 April.

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Delve into the world of sleep science, optical illusions and taste tests at Newcastle ScienceFest in events across the city. At City Library we will be hosting two exhibitions and a day of fascinating talks covering subjects such as photoactive materials, science for the masses and the science behind language. All of our events are free. Visit the ScienceFest website.

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Grant Ridley, North East based ‘National Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011′, popped in to City Library recently to talk about his life so far in business, including his new project ‘Toonpreneur’. We also talked about the Business & IP Centre here at City Library and how that can help people starting out in business.

Listen to staff from the City Library’s information and digital team chat to Grant in the podcast below.

Find out more about Grant Ridley

Visit the Business and IP Centre Newcastle website

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Saturday 4 February was National Libraries Day and here in Newcastle we celebrated in style! At City Library the day began with a rousing performance from ‘Misspent Uke and Friends’ who played for a delighted audience who managed to escape the cold to tuck into tea, coffee and biscuits. At 1pm over twenty ‘little library lions’ sang songs, coloured pictures and made wonderful lion masks then later on in the afternoon more craft fanatics made valentines bookmarks and books to commemorate the day.

Author Matt Haig read from his brand new children’s book ‘To Be A Cat’ and talked to his audience about what it was like to be a writer. Throughout the day our digital champions were on hand to help customers with a huge range of computer and internet queries. We also had an exhibition on the history of the City Library and junior treasure hunters roamed the building searching for clues!

And don’t forget the branches! At Jesmond Library artist Bridget Jones unveiled the library’s reinstated stained glass panels that she originally designed over 20 years ago. Local residents and Councillors packed into the community room to celebrate with coffee and a specially commissioned cake. In the afternoon, local children took part in decorative glass workshops and created some fabulous pieces of original artwork.

At Moorside Library staff compiled a photographic display charting the changes that the library has undergone over the years, whilst on National Libraries Day itself local children made Chinese lanterns and every surface in the library was taken over with industrious folding, cutting and gluing! At Denton Burn, library visitors took part in collaborative story writing and created their very own work of fiction, whilst at Newburn Library a display of archive photographs evoked happy memories for local residents.

All in all it was a great day with a wonderful atmosphere and so many positive comments. A true celebration of all the varied things that happen across our city’s libraries and of what they mean to the people that use them!

For more photographs visit our Facebook page.

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20 January – 23 March 2012

The Designer Bookbinders UK exhibition opens on Friday 20 January in the Newcastle Collection showcase on level 6 of City Library. The exhibition highlights the skill of the hand-bound book with some outstanding examples of the bookbinder’s art.

The exhibition has been organised by Designer Bookbinders UK, a society devoted to the art and craft of the hand-bound book, and will show how the cover of a book can tell its own story. This inspiring show aims to represent the best of British bookbinding and includes bindings by some of the most respected practitioners working today.

Some of the works on show feature leather-bound volumes, those made using silk as well as items which have been created with precious metals and semi-precious stones.

This is the first major British exhibition the Society has mounted for some time and has been shown at venues across the country including the Bodleian Library in Oxford, The Schneideman Gallery in London and the John Rylands Library in Manchester.

More information about Designer Bookbinders UK.

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As part of our budget proposals for 2012/13 we are suggesting a number of measures to achieve some significant savings for the library service. We would be very interested to hear your views on our proposals. There are public consultations on the following topics, please click on them to view more information.

The Home Delivery Service (PDF, 26KB)

The Mobile Library (PDF, 26KB)

Library opening hours (PDF, 67KB)

You can also get involved online by registering on the Let’s Talk Newcastle forums. Visit Let’s Talk Newcastle.

Consultation on the council’s draft budget will be open until 15 February 2012.

This note is the first stage of our consultation programme. We will also be organising visits to individual libraries and we would like you to get in touch with us if you have any specific concerns about these proposals or if you would like more details.

View more information about the council’s budget consultation.

David Fay
City Libraries’ Manager
City Library, 33 New Bridge Street, Newcastle, NE1 8AX
Phone: 0191 2774152
Email: david.fay@newcastle.gov.uk

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(Christmas crafts at Jesmond Library)

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has visited and used any of our libraries in 2011. We were delighted to find that the City Library is currently the 4th busiest in the country and that Newcastle’s libraries are used by more residents than library services in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

We have had an action packed year!  There have been some superb exhibitions, including Evolving English which looked at the development of the English language with a special emphasis on north-east dialect. Festivals included the Northern Children’s Book Festival, the Winter Book Festival and the Canny Comic Con(vention). Helped by the Mayor and Leader of the council, we also enjoyed giving out hundreds of books to residents on World Book Night. Amongst other titles, Tynebridge Publishing produced ‘Alright Now’ a look at Newcastle in the 1970s – we had a fantastic launch with huge flares and platform shoes (those were the days!).

Our Summer Reading Challenge for children at all our libraries was supported by over 50 young volunteers. We had a shadow Booker Prize Event (and no, we didn’t choose the same book as the national judges!) and we had some significant business events at the City Library as part of our bid to set up a new business and intellectual property centre. We’ve also had a whole range of author events at lots of our libraries.

This year has seen self-service machines installed at East End, Outer West, Blakelaw, Kenton and Jesmond Libraries (which also enjoyed a superb new facelift).

We were delighted to welcome comedian Alan Carr when he visited the City Library as part of the programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Sadly that section was left on the cutting room floor! Newcastle also became one of 8 regional centres to hold General Register Office Indexes enabling family history researchers at City Library to have access to the most up-to-date birth, death and marriage records after 2005, which is not available online. Our History Club also achieved a national award.

Although we will have a challenging year with budgets, we are already looking forward to 2012 with lots of plans. On behalf of all my colleagues in Newcastle Libraries, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas with best wishes for 2012.

David Fay
City Libraries’ Manager

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(The teenage reading group – George, Katie, Maria, Grace and Laura with member of staff Jane Baldwin (second from left) in Waterstones in Newcastle.)

Newcastle City Library has launched a teenage reading group for young people aged 12 to 16 years old. The group meets once a month on Sunday afternoon to read and discuss a selected book.

Recently the group were welcomed at Waterstones book store in Newcastle where they had the opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping and were inspired to choose some new titles to read in 2012.

In the New Year the group will be reading ‘Emma’ by Jane Austen and the next meeting will be on Sunday 8 January at 2pm. If you’re interested in joining the teenage reading group we’d love to hear from you. Please email Jane Baldwin at information@newcastle.gov.uk.

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We are delighted to have been nominated as a regional centre for the full set of General Register Office Indexes – dating from 1837 to 2010. We are one of only seven centres in the country to hold them; previously the nearest host centre was Manchester City Library.

The indexes are an important tool for family history researchers.  They cover all civilly registered life events such as births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships as well as indexing adoptions and overseas life events back to 1761. The Indexes are in fiche format and can be viewed on level six of Newcastle City Library.

To introduce you to the full range of our new resource we will be working with staff from the General Register Office to hold a customer awareness session in the New Year. Look out for dates and further information in 2012. Find out more about the General Register Office Indexes.

We are looking forward to offering a selection of events in the New Year – these include a workshop for beginners who wish to trace their family tree and internet taster sessions giving you practical help with the free access we offer to the Ancestry and Find My Past website. Back by popular demand, local historian Mike Greatbatch will host five workshops on the social history of the Lower Ouseburn. Find out more about the Lower Ouseburn workshops.

Kath Cassidy
Service Manager: Heritage

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On Saturday 10 December City Library hosted the hugely successful Canny Comic Con – a convention to celebrate comics, sequential art and graphic novels. We had over 500 visitors of which 161 people attended the talks and nearly 100 children took part in workshops.

Some of the best creative talent from the region hosted talks and panels, including Simon Donald (Viz), Brian Talbot (Alice in Sunderland) and Doug Braithwaite (Marvel, 2000AD) but there were many, many more!. Judge Stewart was also on hand to distribute free copies of 2000AD and remind children of the importance of getting their books back on time!

Then there were the wonderfully creative workshops hosted by Art Heroes, TeesToons and Cuttlefish.

Press and online coverage has been fantastic! There has been a full page feature in the Evening Chronicle, a review on the Forbidden Planet International website, several blog posts by the artists/writers who attended and too many positive Twitter comments to mention! If you use Twitter you can search for the hashtag #cannycc or follow @CannyComicCon.

We were very pleased to raise £123 for the NSPCC which is one of the Lord Mayor’s charities this year. Speakers and guests kindly donated prizes for the raffle including Viz memorabilia, vouchers from the local shops Travelling Man and Forbidden Planet, signed books, CDs, artwork and more!

Don’t worry if you missed it. Get involved by joining the graphic novel reading group ‘Readers of the Lost Art’ which is held at City Library every two weeks on a Tuesday. And watch this space for more exciting comic creating workshops in the future!

We had a bit of time during the jam packed day to interview Dr. Mel Gibson, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot and Alex and Stace (the brains behind Canny Comic Con!). Listen to the interviews below or access them via iTunes.

Canny Comic Con 2011 was such an enjoyable day. Feedback from visitors has been overwhelmingly positive and we would like to thank everyone who was involved in the organisation and promotion of the event for making the day so brilliant!

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Page Turner is a guide to the latest news and events occurring at Newcastle Libraries.

View the latest edition of our Page Turner newsletter. (PDF, 1.1MB)

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Last weekend Newcastle Libraries hosted the Northern Children’s Book Festival Gala Weekend at Benfield School, and we’re pleased to report that the event was a resounding success! The whole weekend was jam packed full of celebrated children’s authors – from Cathy Cassidy to Craig Bradley and  Steve Hartley to Joe Craig – who delighted visitors with stories, crafts, experiments and jokes before signing books and chatting to fans. The region’s library authorities were on hand to provide top quality craft activities including make your own monster paws (grrrrr!) whilst high class interactive entertainment came from Seven Stories, Piccolo Music and Luna Tricks.

Emma (aged eight, pictured above) who visited the festival on Saturday said, ‘I enjoyed the Northern Children’s Book Festival because I got to meet lots of different authors and they signed my books. The authors were really funny; Steven Butler told us lots of funny stories about his childhood and told me how he based his troll character on his mum, how cheeky! When Korky Paul signed my book he drew me a picture of Winnie the witch, I felt really special.’

It seems that everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. The authors were impressed with both the staff and the venue, with Jeremy Strong commenting that his sessions were ‘great fun’ and Korky Paul describing it as a ‘fabulous, exhilarating and wonderful book festival’. Our thousands of visitors were also keen to let us know what a fantastic experience they’d had and many were keen to come back again next year.

Thanks to everyone who gave their time, effort, talents and hard work to put on this fabulous, colourful, surprising, enlightening and ultimately enormously fun weekend!

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Inspire North East is a scheme that allows individuals access to libraries they would not normally be admitted to, such as specialist or university libraries. Any holder of a full membership at Newcastle Libraries (where proof of address was shown) may apply for an Inspire passport. The process only takes a few minutes – just speak to a member of staff to sign up.

The Find it! website lists special collections held by libraries participating in the Inspire scheme.

You could also try the Copac website which brings together the catalogues of British research libraries, including some universities, and makes them accessible via one search engine. Visit Copac.

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It’s been nine months since we launched our ebooks service, offering fiction and non-fiction titles to download for free. So far we’ve had over 6000 downloads by nearly 1000 people. As well as buying titles from our supplier we added titles from our in-house publishers, Tyne Bridge Publishing.

Recently I was at a conference in Manchester where staff from Derby Libraries said they had been adding titles from their local history collection to their ebooks site so that people could borrow titles that would normally be too rare or valuable to lend. Immediately I thought this was an idea we could steal, I mean, that people in Newcastle would find interesting… so we set up a team to look at what titles we could add to our website and how we would go about digitising them.

As a result of our first meeting we decided to add some titles from our heritage collection about the early history of Newcastle as well as some titles from our in-house publishers which are out of print and cannot be bought anymore. In order to give this new digital collection a big launch (as well as giving us plenty of time to work on them!) we have decided to time its release to begin with Local History Month in May 2012.

Over the next couple of months we will be making a small number of titles available to download so people can get an idea of what we will be adding and so we can see how popular they are. At the moment there are three Tyne Bridge Publishing titles available for customers to download:

‘Beneath This Green and Pleasant Land’ by John Graham, a warm and often hard-hitting account of life as a North East miner and one of our most popular titles.

‘Bygone Walker’ and ‘Bygone Byker’ both pictorial histories, using old photographs to portray that past which has given each area such a distinctive character.

The more difficult part is going to be adding rare, valuable or old items from our heritage collection which we are looking to do soon. To begin with these will probably include early pamphlets on the history of Newcastle dating from the seventeenth century. We will also be adding some more Tyne Bridge titles soon.

Why not visit our eBooks site, download some of the titles and tell us what you think! Visit the Digital Collection.

Luke Burton
Information and Digital Team

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Steven Butler visited City Library to talk about ‘The Wrong Pong’, the book chosen as this year’s Big Juice Read. Stephen chatted about all things smelly to one of our young volunteers at City Library before he went to meet his audience of eager young trolls. You can listen to their conversation below.

Visit Steven Butler’s website

View Steven Butler’s books on the online catalogue

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The Newcastle Winter Book Festival brings together venues across the city to celebrate arts and literature. Exciting and entertaining speakers at this year’s festival include: David Almond, MC Beaton, Liz Lochhead, Ann Cleeves, Hugh Cornwell and Tam Dalyell.

Explore the golden age of detection at a talk on Agatha Christie or hear about the influence of painter John Martin on the work of Romantic poets. There are also helpful sessions for aspiring authors and playwrights.

The Winter Book Festival takes place from 24 – 27 November at venues across Newcastle.

Visit the Newcastle Winter Book Festival website.

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Last week I was involved in the student event at the Civic Centre. The event took place in the Banqueting Suite where 36 tables were set up to accommodate exhibitors from a wide range of services from council offices, arts, health, careers and accommodation. The aim of the day was to welcome newly arrived international students. The event provides them with an opportunity to find out more about the fantastic leisure and community resources available across Newcastle.

Each year Newcastle and Northumbria Universities receive over 4,300 international students. Judith, Barbara and I set up our table with promotional material showcasing all that the libraries had to offer from author events to computer sessions. We handed out dozens of application forms and many students wanted to sign up immediately. We were kept busy for the whole afternoon signing them up. We ran out of forms and just had enough tickets!! All together between the three of us we joined 87 students to the library. It was pretty hectic but certainly a productive afternoon. We were all so busy that we missed the refreshments that were being served! My thanks go to Barbara and Judith who worked so hard and with great enthusiasm. The event was a huge success and well worth the effort.

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Banned Books Week is held from 24 September – 1 October 2011.

Have you read any of these books?

Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

All have been either banned or censored in one or more countries. View a list of censored titles.

Banned Books Week is library led reader promotion aimed at raising awareness of censorship in literature. Librarians across the country have chosen 100 controversial titles from the past and present which have caused a stir both at home and abroad. A selection of these titles will be on available on display at City Library during Banned Books Week. Visit the Banned Books Facebook page.

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Join in the conversation to have your say about Newcastle Libraries’ priorities, how we spend our money and the future of our library service. Help us take your views and those of the wider community into account by participating in our public consultation event on Saturday 29 October from 10:30am – 12:30pm.

If you would like to be involved in the consultation event at City Library please email information@newcastle.gov.uk or phone 0191 2774100 to book your place.

Find out how you can be involved in the wider Let’s Talk Newcastle public consultations. Visit Let’s Talk Newcastle.

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The Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced! You can reserve a copy of any of the six books at your local library or click on a title below to reserve online.

Julian Barnes: The Sense of an Ending
Carol Birch: Jamrach’s Menagerie
Patrick deWitt: The Sisters Brothers
Esi Edugyan: Half Blood Blues
Stephen Kelman: Pigeon English
A.D. Miller: Snowdrops

Celebrate the announcement of the shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize by being involved in our very own Toon Man Booker! The Newcastle Libraries Toon Man Booker Prize, supported by Waterstones, aims to promote a lifelong love of reading. Vote for your favourite book on the shortlist either online or at your local library.

Vote for your favourite.

The votes will be counted and the result announced at a gala evening at the City Library on Tuesday 18 October from 6pm, the same night the winner of the main Man Booker Prize is announced.

Tickets for the Toon Man Booker Prize evening are £3 for library members and £5 for non-members including refreshments. You can book your place for this event by calling 0191 2774100 or emailing information@newcastle.gov.uk.

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If you’re aged between 11 and 19 and want your voice to be heard, then sign up for My Voice in Newcastle. This fabulous three year project is in partnership with The Reading Agency – have the freedom to be involved for the whole three years or dip in and out to suit you.

- Create your own space where you can host events.
- Meet artists, writers and musicians.
- Work with creative professionals.
- Brand and market your ideas.
- Be trained in creating editorial content, podcasts and vodcasts.
- Set up a My Voice digital reading group.
- Create a memorable event in your community.

This project is ideal to gain work experience in event management, marketing and digital technologies. We need a small group of about twelve young people to set the wheels in motion. For more information contact Jen Brown on 0191 2774100 or email jen.brown@newcastle.gov.uk.

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We are working closely with Newcastle Science City, Northumbria University and the British Library to develop a new service aimed at entrepreneurs, innovators, start-ups and established businesses. Through a series of events, workshops, public talks and one-to-one coaching sessions experts will share their knowledge of business development and intellectual property all underpinned by high quality resources and staff support at City Library.

Visit the new Business and Intellectual Property Centre website.

Speakers include Dragons’ Den contestant Solvej Biddle, The Apprentice runner-up for 2011 Helen Milligan, and the former head of PR at Easyjet, James Rothnie. Most of these events are free and we invite you to find out more about the programme by coming to the launch at City Library on Monday 5 September at 6pm.  Find out more information or reserve you place online.

If you have any business or intellectual property enquiries please email newcastlebipc@newcastle.gov.uk.

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A couple of months ago I mentioned that we’d had camera crews in the library and a visit from a mystery celebrity. I can now reveal that the celebrity was none other than comedian Alan Carr. Alan was in the region filming for a forthcoming episode of the BBC programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ He spent an entire day in the heritage section and as you can imagine his visit caused great excitement. Alan was lovely, very friendly and extremely funny, exactly as he appears on television. We were a little disappointed to find out that the library sequence will not be screened when the programme is broadcast, but having said that, it was still a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.

City Libraries Manager, David Fay, with library staff and chatty man himself, Alan Carr.

We’ve also been busy putting together a packed programme of autumn events. These include a range of free events to celebrate Heritage Open Days. Find out more about Heritage Open Days.

We are also organising a number of activities including an archive film show, guided walks around the suburbs, a look at our Newcastle United archive, talks about our industrial heritage and an exhibition featuring the work of Thomas Bewick. View the Newcastle Libraries events calendar.

Kath Cassidy
Heritage Service Manager

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Wunderbar Festival and New Writing North are opening a new and unique library with a specific purpose – to challenge stereotype, stigma, prejudice and discrimination. This library is called the Human Library.

The twist in the Human Library is that the ‘books’ are people and ‘reading’ them involves a conversation.  They are looking for 25 people with diverse backgrounds to participate in this exciting project by volunteering to be books.  The experience that you can offer through the Human Library will lead to a more inclusive, tolerant and cohesive society, and has the potential to change the attitudes and behaviours of all of us.

The application deadline is 12 September.

Visit the Wunderbar Festival website for more information.

The concept for the Human Library originated in Copenhagen in 2000 and has since been reproduced in 60 countries all over the world.  Find out more about the Human Library.

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Bestselling authors Simon Brett and L.C. Tyler visited City Library for an entertaining event called Summer of Crime which was enjoyed over a glass of wine by an intimate audience at City Library.

Both authors write comic crime fiction inspired by classic works such as those by Agatha Christie. Listen to their interview with library staff below which was recorded before their event at City Library.

View Simon Brett’s books on the library catalogue

View L.C. Tyler’s books on the library catalogue

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The Byki website offers support for learning over 70 languages and is available to access for free via our 24 Hour Library. The site offers something for everyone, whether learning for school, practicing for a holiday or preparing for a business trip.

Just like real life language teachers, Byki uses the concept of flashcards as new words are shown and pronounced one after the other. There are short tests to help remember the vocabulary, for example by seeing the new word in only one of the languages and typing in the translation.

There is an impressive list of topics to choose from, starting with the basics but then offering several levels of difficulty. Byki requires users to register with the site first, but only to record which learning topics have been completed.

Visit the 24 Hour Library. You will need your library card number and PIN to log in.

Bon courage!

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Author Alyson Noel is on a promotional tour of the UK and she recently visited City Library where she met with students from All Saints School. Alyson is a New York Times best selling author of books for teenagers. She is currently working on a new series called ‘Soul Seekers’. Listen to an interview with Alyson when she visited City Library.

View Alyson’s books on the online catalogue.

Visit Alyson Noel’s website.

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If you have been into City Library over the past week you may have noticed the development of the Agencies Space as staff are working hard to create a business area.  This area will host relevant business and intellectual property information as well as other ‘start up’ materials, relevant magazines and newspapers.  There will be a skills swap board for customers, an events programme as well as details of one to one advice sessions. Access to business databases such as Corporate Researcher, Cobra and British Standards will be available via designated computers. Staff have been down to the British Library to learn more about workshops, newsletters and business advice delivery.  There will be a business launch in partnership with Science City on 5 September to promote our events which includes a visit from a well known contestant on The Apprentice. Find out more details about the launch event.

For those who have just left school and are wondering what to do next, join our work club which supports CV writing, interview techniques, job searching and application forms.  A number of participating customers have been successful with either finding jobs or gaining an interview.  There are various sessions throughout our community libraries and City Library. Just ask a member of staff for more details, phone 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.

Sharon Reeve
Information and Digital Service Manager

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David Fay, City Libraries Manager, shares his thoughts below after working a shift at Denton Burn Library…

As part of a series of ‘back to the floor days’ for senior staff, I was nominated to work at Denton Burn Library for an afternoon and evening. When I arrived, my colleague Gloria and I couldn’t decide who was the most nervous, but I was promptly given a tour of the building, shown where the fire exits were, and was told what sort of events were taking place that afternoon.

Apart from serving customers, there was plenty to do including accessioning new stock, replacing date labels and of course lots of shelving (I got a sneaky feeling they’d been saving a few things up for me!). Gloria was very patient as I tentatively issued and reserved books to some very nice customers.

A regular craft session was booked for the afternoon but we weren’t sure how many children would come. Having spent 6 years as a children’s librarian I felt on surer ground with this. Sure enough I soon got back into the swing of making things out of not very much! The children were aged from about 8 to 10 and were suitably energetic and cheeky. I was quickly told I had ears ‘like an elf’ and that they were going to make me an emergency wig! It was interesting to see Gloria running the group whilst keeping an eye on the counter – very impressive.

The evening was much quieter and gave me chance to do all the jobs I’d been left as well as finish the shelving and put books on display – it was very satisfying to do something with a tangible end result.

The day went by in a blur and gave me a tantalising reminder of why I started to work in libraries almost 30 years ago!

David Fay
City Libraries Manager

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The shirt also complements the new Played in Tyne and Wear exhibition on level 6. The shirt belongs to the Newcastle United Supporters Trust and contains the names of their members, which make up the black stripes.  Membership forms are available at City Library for customers who wish to join.

Find out more about the Newcastle United Supporters Trust.

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The Man Booker Prize longlist has just been announced for this year. We are working with Waterstones on a project called the Toon Man Booker which aims to get people in the North East talking about the national Man Booker Prize nominations and deciding on their favourite. There will be voting boxes around the City as well as the chance to vote online. Each Man Booker nominee will be championed by local library staff, booksellers and reading groups leading to a gala evening on the 18 October where we will reveal our winner on the same night as the national prize. Look out for more information in the September e-newsletter.

Subscribe to the Newcastle Libraries e-newsletter.

View the Man Booker longlist.

The second World Book Night will take place in April next year but readers are already being invited to submit their top ten nominations via the World Book Night website. The first World Book Night this year saw 20,000 volunteers give away 1 million specially printed books.

Nominate your top 10 titles. But hurry, as you only have until the end of August.

I made my own list and found it hard to limit myself to ten so in the end chose the ones that were ‘unputdownable’ and stayed with me after I’d finished the book. My top ten (in no particular order are):

‘My Family and Other Animals’ – Gerald Durrell
Pure escapism, I love the way he describes growing up on Corfu, the wildlife he encounter and his eccentric family.

‘The Sacred Art of Stealing’ – Christopher Brookmyre
Christopher Brookmyre id one of my favourite authors and I chose this one for the brilliant heist at the centre of the book.

‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ – Thomas Hardy
Any novel with exploding sheep gets my nomination; this is also a favourite as it shows that quiet determination wins in the end.

‘World War Z’ – Max Brooks
A novel which tells the story of a zombie apocalypse from many different viewpoints, this was so I engrossing I managed to read it in the middle of a play park in the school holidays.

‘Alice in Sunderland’ – Bryan Thomas
This graphic novel veers off on different tangents and manages to cover the history of Sunderland (yes I know, get over it!), Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland as well as featuring Sid James and Tintin (not together).

‘The Name of the Rose’ – Umberto Eco
*spoiler alert* This is a cautionary tale all those who lick their fingers before turning pages, you know who you are…

‘The Tent, the Bucket and Me’ – Emma Kennedy
This book made me laugh and cry as it reminded me so much of my childhood holiday experiences, the title says it all.

‘The Assassin’s Apprentice’ – Robin Hobb
This is the first in a series featuring Fitz who is trained as an assassin; it is fantasy and is strong on ‘Games of Thrones’ style skulduggery and intrigue rather than runes and ale quaffing.

‘Little Brother’ – Cory Doctorow
Although written for teenagers, this novel tells a tale of teenagers caught in the aftermath of a terrorist attack and how technology is used to watch us all.

‘Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales’ – Angela Carter
These are fairy tales as you’ve never seen them before, wilder and more disturbing than the ones you are familiar with.

Kerry Bossons
Reading and Learning Service Manager

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As part of our regional Played in Tyne and Wear partnership, we’ve just opened a major sporting exhibition on level 6 of City Library.

Download the exhibition catalogue. (PDF, 1.17MB)

The exhibition uses archive material to illustrate the history of sport in the region and includes pigeon racing, rowing, golf, and cricket. Of course an exhibition about regional sport wouldn’t be complete without reference to the beautiful game so we’ve worked closely with  Mick Edmondson from the Back Page who has generously loaned us a great deal of fascinating material that charts the history of Newcastle United. The exhibition runs until 30 October 2011 and is a must see destination for sports fans of all ages.

In my last blog I mentioned that the History Club had been selected as one of three finalists in the prestigious CILIP Libraries Change Lives award. Earlier in the month, along with colleagues who run the club on a weekly basis, I attended the CILIP conference at De Havilland University in Hatfield to collect our certificate and a cheque for £1,500. The prize money will be a great help in adding value to the programme of club activities and we now plan to take members on a number of short excursions to places of historic significance in and around the City, something that we know they really enjoy.

We are currently planning our autumn events programme – so look out for details of forthcoming heritage events in the next edition of the Page Turner newsletter.

Kath Cassidy
Heritage Service Manager

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The website also provides clear advice for parents or those who are separating from a partner as well as a money health check.  The health check questionnaire may help you make sense of your financial situation and suggests how to make your finances secure.

There are also comparison tables for different financial products such as savings accounts and pensions.

Visit the Money Advice Service website.

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The brand new Library App is available to download now from app stores for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 users.

The new app will allow you to  search the library catalogue, renew items, read the latest news and find out what is happening at your local branch while on the move.

Newcastle Libraries is one of three local authorities who have been working with software developer si.digi Ltd to produce the app as part of a pilot programme and there will be more developments to the app in the future. Please let us know what you think of the app and what other features you would like to see by emailing information@newcastle.gov.uk.

David Fay, City Libraries Manager said: “Our libraries have always embraced innovative change and new technologies which include the stunning new City Library to our 10 new and refurbished self-service sites.  Through our Twitter and Facebook pages we already understand the need for swift up to date information so this app will enable customers to access our services wherever and whenever they want to.”

He added:  “Working with the software developers, it has given us a chance to look at the ways we currently connect with the people of Newcastle and beyond and hopefully this app will show why we think libraries still play an important role in our communities.”

View more information on how to download the app.

Alternatively, for more information use your smartphone to scan this QR code:

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Author and journalist Robin Tudge spoke to us before his recent author event at City Library. His latest book is called ‘The No-Nonsense Guide to Global Surveillance’ and is a detailed and fascinating history of this controversial and complex subject.

Listen to the interview below.

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It is great to report that our library service has been awarded full compliance in the Customer Service Excellence Award. The assessor said he was ‘very impressed with the standards throughout the whole service from the impressive buildings, knowledgeable and courteous staff, through to the accessible information provided about the service.’

It was very good for all the library staff to hear about this accolade which was a tribute to all their hard work. Another of the feature of the service which impressed the assessor was the variety of work we do with other agencies to enhance the service. A good example of this was a project which has just been completed called The National Young Readers Programme. Coordinated by the National Literacy Trust and supported by the Universal Bank of Switzerland, we delivered this project which linked Children’s Centres and libraries. Over 1000 books were given to children who also took part in lots of literacy based activities. All children who weren’t already members joined the library and received their first library card.

I have chosen a children’s book to mention this time – Sky Hawk by a new author Gill Lewis. It’s a beautifully written wildlife adventure intertwining the lives of two children with that of an osprey. I just couldn’t put this book down and will be recommending this to as many children as possible taking part in our Summer Reading Challenge! I have nominated this title as one of the books promoted on the next World Book Night in April 2012. Send in your book recommendations for World Book Night.

Janice Hall
Libraries Development Manager (Communities)

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19 July 2011
2pm – 3:30pm
Denton Burn Library

The photo below shows Denton Burn Library in 1966.

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