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.
The full events programme will be unveiled in early April, but there are already some incredible early reveals. Family Friendly Look for a Book will get the festival underway during the May half term holidays (Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June) with stargazer extraordinaire Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Maggie’s list of achievements is endless, including that she was the first Black woman to win a gold medal in the Physics News Award, has been a CBeebies presenter, and has been honoured with her own Barbie Doll in recognition of her work to promote science careers to girls. This is a game of finders keepers, with binoculars rather than telescopes needed for this challenge! Hidden in the libraries and the green spaces surrounding them will be 500 copies of Maggie’s book Am I Made of Stardust? awaiting discovery. As well as a copy of Maggie’s book to keep, there is also a chance for winners to meet her during the festival.
Find out more about Festival of Libraries
