What's New in Libraries

Explore Your Past

Discover your ancestors by using the Internet - a talk by Else Churchill from the Society of Genealogists. Sponsored by ProQuest, suppliers of ancestry.co.uk. On Wednesday 24 September 2008 at 7.30pm. Central Library, 2 Fieldway Crescent, N5 1PF. Free event, refreshment provided. Booking recommended. For more information telephone 020 7527 6931, or email centralref.library@islington.gov.uk

Love Books - A Fantastic Competition

Which book do you love best? From July to November you can vote for your favourite book and win one of two prizes of the top 25 books as voted by competition entrants. There is also a prize of the top ten young adult books for those aged 11 to 15 years, and the top ten books for children aged between 6 and 10.

Pick up a voting form from any Islington Library or click the link under Downloadable Documents, below, to print one yourself. Good luck.

Summer Reading Challenge – The Team Read

On your marks, get set… read! Get active and get reading this summer with Team Read – the 2008 Summer Reading Challenge. Team Read is this year’s summer reading challenge aimed at children aged 4 to 11 and will run from Monday 7 July until Sunday 14 September.

• Collect a Team Read folder and membership card from your local library and start collecting stickers for the books you read. At the end, you will be awarded a splendid medal and certificate and there will be other goodies to collect along the way.
• Great prizes for the Summer Reading Challenge including an Arsenal Stadium tour, London attraction entry tickets, HMV vouchers and many more.
• Watch out for special Summer Reading Challenge parties in the libraries at the end of the summer.
• Books read for Team Read count towards the Big Reading League.
• Free DVD loan for parents after three and six books.

Summer Events Programme in the Library

Every library will be hosting a number of great events this summer linking in with the sports theme of the Reading Challenge - from football poet Paul Cookson to indoor games, sporty clowns to craft activities. Find out more from Heatwave, Islington's summer activities programme (click the link under Related Information, right). All events are free but the tickets will go fast!

Manga Art and Writing Workshop

Into Dragon Ball Z and Manga graphic novels? Manga artist Steve Marchant will be on hand to show you how it’s done in two great workshops. If you’re aged 8-12, get a ticket for the 10am workshop on 11 October at West Library, Bridgeman Road. If you’re 13-16, you can join in the 2pm workshop the same day at Mildmay Library, 21-23 Mildmay Park. Contact Geoff James at geoff.james@islington.gov.uk for your ticket.

It’s a Rap!

Rap poet Kenny Baraka is running three workshops on how to write and present rap poetry during November. He’ll be at N4 Library in Blackstock Road at 2.15pm on 15 November, Lewis Carroll Library in Copenhagen Street on 22 November and Finsbury Library in St. John Street on 29 November. To book a place, contact Geoff James at geoff.james@islington.gov.uk for your ticket.

Music Styles 2008-09

Islington does it again - another nine diverse music collections offering a range of styles and genres to be explored and enjoyed. The collections circulate around Islington's libraries every four months.The programme from June to September is:

• Central Library - Female Singer/Songwriters, a selection of women artists, some well known and some waiting to be discovered by a wider audience)

• Finsbury Library - Lone Star State, music from Texas, a big state with many a tale to tell, a hatful of promises, broken hearts, tumbleweed, and perhaps a few surprises

• Archway Library - A Night at the Opera, hits from operatic favourites. A real treat for opera regulars or first timers

• N4 Library - Tour de France, more lyrical than Lycra. A tour de force of fantastic French music - from early to electro to eclectic, check out some gorgeous gallic sounds

• South Library - Nu-Rave, where it's at, new and hip music. The sounds of now (or perhaps in some cases last week)

• John Barnes Library - Theme Time: Scary, be afraid, be very afraid. Music from the dark side, these are definitely sounds to chill and thrill. Even scarier through headphones

• Mildmay - Brit Flicks, some of British cinema's great soundtracks. An entertaining mix of the best composers and artists who made their mark on British film history

• West Library - Domino Records, a selection of interseting and original artists on the cutting edge Domino Record label. Good browsing for cool and left field listeners

• North Library - Hard Bop, a jazz style developed in 1950s America nd Europe, an extension of Be Bop. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Horace Silver and Clifford Brown all represent Hard Bop among many others

Comic Book Forum

Every third Thursday of the Month at the John Barnes Library, from 6pm to 7.30pm.

An in-depth look at comic and graphic fiction. Pick up something different, discuss your thoughts, give an opinion or just sit and listen.

Contact John Barnes Library, 275 Camden Road, N7 0JN by phoning 020 7527 7900 or emailing johnbarnes.library@islington.gov.uk

Tea Dance

On the first Wednesday of every month from 2-4pm, in the Large Hall at the Central Library (for information, see the link on the right). Tea or coffee provided. Phone 020 7527 6900 for more details.

100 Years of the Central Library - Booklet

See the document below for a printable copy of our history of the Central Library.

Love Libraries

Do you Love Libraries? Visit their website and share your thoughts with others.

Love Libraries is a campaign to make English libraries even better. To explore a new vision of a 21 century reading service, three libraries across England have been transformed over 12 weeks.

For more information, click the link under Useful Websites.

Reading Group at John Barnes Library

The group meets on the first Thursday of the month, from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, at the John Barnes Library, Camden Road.

Tel: 020 7527 7900
Email: johnbarnes.library@islington.gov.uk

Reading Group at the Mildmay Library

The group meets on the last Saturday of the month, from 10am to 12pm, at the Mildmay Library in Mildmay Park. Please email islingtonbookgroup@googlemail.com for more details.

Reading Group at the Central Library

The group meets on the penultimate Monday of each month, from 6pm to 7.30pm, in the Gallery. For more details contact the Central Library: Tel: 020 7527 6900 Email: centrallending.lib@islington.gov.uk

For details of our other reading groups please click on the link under Related Information to the right.