A joyous celebration of libraries set to take place across Greater Manchester.
This year’s festival will take audiences to galaxies far away with Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock and unlock the transformative power of reading with Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce. They will be joined by a whole host of authors, poets, performers, artists and historians all sharing their love of libraries with audiences in a free events programme. And with The John Rylands Library celebrating its 125th birthday, Stockport set to open a brand new library and The Portico working to reunite its historic building under the dome, it’s never been a more exciting time for Greater Manchester libraries.
Returning for its fifth year, and winner of Best Event at the Manchester Culture Awards in 2024, Festival of Libraries is the biggest festival of its type in the country, bringing together all 133 of Greater Manchester’s libraries. Reminding us of how precious libraries are to communities, equality, discovery and culture, the festival is filled with author talks, exhibitions, performances, installations, workshops, Family Friendly activities and international collaborations. It is organised by Manchester UNESCO City of Literature and is made possible thanks to the support of Arts Council England.
Look for a Book – Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June
Signalling liftoff, intergalactic style, is the Look for a Book challenge. A free activity for everyone to take part in, this year’s Look for a Book promises cosmic fun with stargazer extraordinaire Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock. 500 copies of her brilliant book Am I Made of Stardust? will be awaiting discovery in and around Greater Manchester’s 133 libraries, the green spaces of Manchester’s Spinningfields, the galleries of People’s History Museum and across the Bee Network during the half term holidays (Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June). This is a game of finders keepers, with riddles to solve and clues to follow, and for some lucky winners there will also be the chance to meet Maggie in person during the festival.
Festival of Libraries – Thursday 4 June to Sunday 8 June
Continuing a space walk through your imagination is children’s author and performer Dan Worsley. Join Dan for an extra special, extraterrestrial storytelling journey that will prove that with a bit of make believe, anything really is possible. Out of this World will tour a number of libraries: Bury and Farnworth Libraries on Saturday 7 June; andTrafford and Manchester Central Libraries on Sunday 8 June. One of the highlights of the session will be the chance to find out more about the James Webb Space Telescope and there will be demonstrations using an infrared camera. Suitable for ages 7 plus.
Inviting you on a very different adventure, Threads is a dance performance that explores the journey into adulthood and takes place at Manchester Central Library on Saturday 7 June. To create this piece Coalesce Dance Theatre has woven stories from young people from across the North of England together, which are told in a performance that takes place amongst tossed away clothes and a large wardrobe structure. Themes of mental health, friendship and identity are all part of the narrative. Suitable for ages 14 plus.
This year’s festival includes lots of literary inspired activities for families to look out for. Joining the festival for the first time, People’s History Museum is celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books with Mini Books, Big Stories (Saturday 24 May to Sunday 8 June). Inspired by the fact that Penguin Books democratised literature – making quality paperback books available to the masses for the first time – families are invited to make mini books about the heroes whose stories are told within the galleries of People’s History Museum. Suitable for ages 5 plus.
Find out more about Festival of Libraries
