Art, poetry, music, literature…all are covered this week

Monday, 28th September 2020

It’s been interesting over the last few weeks watching how libraries have managed their reopening and any perceived risks. The plans that we were putting in place for reopening changed over the summer. Then changed again at the start of September, and now it looks as if the goalposts are shifting again. The primary aim is obviously to keep our staff and students as safe as possible so we’re busy focusing on maximising our online facilities and resources. It has, however, been delightful to see other types of libraries welcoming their customers back through the doors – especially public libraries who offer so much to the locals within their community. Is this all about to change again? We shall see…

Bookshop Day 3rd October
It’s Bookshop Day on Saturday 3rd October – an annual event since 2013, organised by the Booksellers Association under the umbrella of Books are My Bag, a nationwide campaign to celebrate bookshops. It comprises not only Bookshop Day but also the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. At the centre of the campaign is the “iconic BOOKS ARE MY BAG tote bag” over a million of which have been given away for people to wear to show their love for their local bookshop. The campaign has been organised by booksellers, publishers and authors and the aim is to encourage the book buying public to shop in their local bookshop – over 1000 shops usually take part, putting on special events and window displays – and ensure their high street is thriving. Not an easy task at the best of times, never mind in the middle of a pandemic..

The shortlist for the BAMB (Books Are My Bag Readers Awards) is announced on Thursday 1st October when voting will open online. The shortlists are decided by bookshops but the winners are decided by the public – unusual for book awards but very welcome.

National Poetry Day 1st October
National Poetry Day is an annual event to discover, share and celebrate the joy of poetry. The theme this year is ‘Vision’, where organisers are encouraging people with a range of activities to See It Like a Poet and to #ShareAPoem.

“National Poetry Day generates an explosion of activity nationwide, thousands of amazing events across the UK – on doorsteps and at kitchen tables, in gardens and streets, in schools, libraries and public spaces both online and offline – all celebrating poetry’s power to bring people together.

The Day starts conversations, it encourages love of language – and best of all, it’s open to absolutely everyone to join in, quietly or noisily in rewarding and enjoyable ways. As the artform’s most visible moment, it showcases the ways in which poetry adds value to society.”

– From the National Poetry Day website

Find out more about National Poetry Day’s reach, impact and effect on poetry book sales in this Leaflet from the organisers.

Surrey Libraries has its own poetry blog and resident poet. There are several poetry themed links on their website and they say that the blog is ideal for those with a passion for poems and “features a new poem every day, and includes sections dedicated to poetry recordings, children’s poetry, and selected poetry titles available from Surrey libraries. If you are feeling inspired, you can even recommend a favourite poem or submit a poem of your own creation, which could be published on the blog”. Check out Poetry in Surrey Libraries here for more information – and a little bit of inspiration.

The organisers behind World Book Night included some poetry works in their list of books this year.

Sophia Thakur’s Somebody Give This a Heart is described as a “powerful first collection of poems exploring issues of identity, difference, faith, relationship, fear, loss and joy…poems that explore and connect people”, whilst The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is the story of 12 year old Josh, his twin Jordan and their love of basketball, their father having been a champion player, told in verse.

Both of these works are aimed for the YA reader.

Black History Month October 2020
One of our displays each year to feature on the noticeboards of our LRC centres on Black History Month. In previous years, we’ve looked at significant historical figures, or we’ve done a feature of modern day people influencing current events. Black History Month has been celebrated for over forty years. The focus is on the contributions that people from African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to the UK over many generations. There’s a fantastic website, Black History Month 2020, to support the month – it’s full of articles, interviews, photos, videos, historical information, and much more. You can see for yourself here.

And for this year, Paola has tapped into one of her interests and has done a fantastic display looking at influential figures in the field of music.

Lenny Henry has made a programme on this very topic and it will be available to view on BBC iPlayer – Lenny Henry interview about his new documentary

The Big Draw Festival October 2020
For the last 20 years, the Big Draw has been promoting the universal language of drawing – and encouraging its use as a tool for learning, expression and invention. Throughout the month of October, thousands of events take place, across (currently) 28 countries. The theme for the 2020 Festival is A Climate of Change, with the focus on people and the living environments – the ecosystems – that we find ourselves cohabiting with.

As with everything these days, the events are complying with the local Covid 19 social distancing guidelines. However, there are still plenty of events taking place. The Festival website has information on what’s on and here, and much more detail about the month itself.

ML Arts e-Live Festival
A more local arts festival is based in Mole Valley, Surrey and also runs for the duration of the month of October. It celebrates music, art, literature, theatre, poetry, film, and much, much more, and has done so for 24 years. This year it has a slight change of name – Arts Alive has become Arts E-Live – so it’s safe to assume that there may be fewer hands-on workshops for 2020. However, I’m sure that the full programme will still hold many interesting and enjoyable events and activities.

Check the website for information on the socially-distanced events happening this year.

Book Review
Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond & Adam Horovitz

This music autobiography / biography is something special and a bit different ! The Beastie Boys really did change the world and were active for over 30 years, writing superb songs and making phenomenal records, they are still adored by millions of people around the world to this day.

As a paperback book, it’s informative, broken into very short chapters which make it easy to read even if you are pushed for time. It contains descriptive stories and has a conversational feel like a friend is talking to you and it’s hard to be anything less than completely enthralled by the tales and memories that are being shared. It’s incredibly funny and multi-dimensional with plenty of contributions from outside the band. It’s also incredibly sad due to the passing of Adam Yauch.

Get the audiobook and hear Michael Diamond & Adam Horovitz read many of the chapters. You also get to hear other musicians, celebrities, friends etc read certain chapters. Hearing so many different voices, styles and cadences makes it such a superb listen and adds to the energy. Always engaging and attention-grabbing, never monotonous. They even read-out the tracks of the mix-tapes printed in the book !

Then there’s the Beastie Boys Story directed by Spike Jonze which you can find online and on streaming services. Adam and Mike read excerpts of the book to a live audience with backdrops and props. It’s brilliant, so amusing, emotional and engrossing.

MUST READ. MUST HEAR. MUST SEE !

What a way to celebrate the Beastie Boys and Adam Yauch. The joy, creativity, excitement and brilliance of this band and book is likely to bring happiness, entertainment and inspiration to future generations. If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it immensely !

– Glenn

We love…

Every year, the Australian arm of the publisher Bloomsbury in Sydney teams up with Graphic Design course students at the University of Technology to produce trailers for books. And, of course, this is made into a competition. Take a look at this year’s winner for the soon to be published ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’ by Stuart Turton – The Devil and the Dark Water trailer tweet

It’s a great story of murder and suspense with just a little bit of added ghostliness, set on the high seas in the 17th century. This trailer captures it very, very well.

Students

Book Loans
Worried about fines? No problem. All loans have been renewed and fines waived while the LRC was closed. Books can now be returned to the College. Please contact the LRC to find out about current procedures.

Access our virtual library online
You can search for e-books on the library catalogue or directly through our e-book providers.. Click on the Shibboleth login if requested and select Brooklands College. If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact us at library@brooklands.ac.uk.
Heritage Online | Proquest

Issues Online
Looking for PSHE resources? Then look no further than Issues Online.

Issues online is an interactive resource containing images, graphs, infographics, videos, glossaries and thousands of articles to help students understand information covering a wide range of PSHE subjects and social issues.

Login using your usual student login
Select this link Issues Online
Select login option “Your Home Institution”
Select Shibboleth login
Then select Brooklands College from the dropdown box.

LRC website
The LRC website contains links to our resources, our online catalogue and is full of information about LRC use, plus there are book reviews, links to our displays and other items of interest. It is only available to College members (sorry) and can be found through links on the LRC Google Classroom, and on the staff and student intranets.

LRC Google Classroom page
Tutors have been invited to join the Classroom and will be passing the joining code on to their students. It’s full of links to resources, and helpful advice and tips.

Please contact us at library@brooklands.ac.uk if you need support with e-books, e-resources or anything else.

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