Speaks Volumes The bi-monthly newsletter of the Leeds Library. Volume 20, February 2020 1 Speaks Volumes Volume 20, February 2020 Personnel of the Leeds Library Staff President : Dr. Kevin Grady Chief Executive : Carl Hutton Patrons: Caryl Phillips, Nima Poovaya-Smith & Simon Armitage Librarian : Jane Riley Trustees Assistant Librarians : Anna Goodridge & Helen Holdsworth Chair : Martin Staniforth (Chair of Finance) Library Assistants : Nichola Holmes Vice Chair : Simone Ivatts and Aidan Thackray Treasurer : Rob Kilner Administrator : Sarah West Chair of Books : Michael Meadowcroft Finance Officer : Liz Jones Chair of House : Chris Webster Membership Administrator : Jen Fox Chair of Membership : Philip Walker Marketing & Communications Officer : Fiona Chair of Outreach & Development : Simone Gell Ivatts Caretaker/Cleaner : Phillip & Jean Robinson Chair of Research : Stuart Rawnsley Consultant Bookbinder : Brian Cole of The Chair of Staffing : Richard Hainsworth Castle Bindery & Linette Withers Other Trustees : Bruce Buchan, Elizabeth Minkin, Christine Stead, Ruth Robbins From the Editor Contents Pages Welcome to Speaks Volumes 20, our first issue of the year and a new decade! CEO’s Letter 3 We hope you enjoy reading it. News 4-6 April's newsletter will be our ILA Conference issue. Check the Features 7-12 back page for more details. Events & Exhibitions 13-19 Issue 20’s cover image is a still from the silent film Oilver Twist which will be shown in the Library with Book Reviews 20 live piano accompaniment on Saturday 7th March as Misc 21 part of Leeds Lit Fest. Thank you to everyone who has submitted an article Publishing Schedule 22 for this issue, past issues and the ones to come. It’s really appreciated. As ever we are really keen to hear more from you about what you would like to see in this newsletter going forward. Contact details are on the back page. Please get in touch! Best wishes Fiona 2 Speaks Volumes Volume 20, Feb 2020 Dear Member We hope that you had an enjoyable festive period and have had the chance to come in to the Library since the beginning of the year. With a flurry of Library gift memberships purchased over Christmas it has been really lovely to welcome so many new people over the last few weeks. Our New Members’ Evening on 18th February is expected to be our busiest one yet and is recommended to anyone who has recently joined us. You will get the chance to meet staff and Trustees, see some of the gems from our collection and meet other new Members. The year ahead plans to be a busy one for the Library. As you will see from this edition of Speaks Volumes, we are heavily involved in the organisation of Leeds Lit Fest which will be taking place across the city from Wednesday 4th - Sunday 8th March. Full details of our programme and some of the exciting events and activities that will be part of the Festival, can be found in this issue. At the end of May the Library will be hosting the annual conference for the Independent Libraries Association of which we are a founding partner. Currently there are around 30 independent libraries which are part of the group. Recent conferences have taken place at the Devon and Exeter Institute, Innerpeffray Library and Chawton House Library. In the Autumn we hope and expect to be part of Heritage Open Day Festival, Leeds Light Night and also National Libraries Week. During the course of the year, the Library will be developing plans for investing in our building and our collection. It is hoped that before the end of the year, an outline funding application will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund that may result in financial support for developing a detailed funding application that will improve the way the Library operates and is presented. We will also be developing our approach to fundraising. As a charity, the Library receives minimal external financial support to deliver our collection’s conservation work, our outreach and engagement programme, as well as keeping up with the maintenance challenges of a Grade 2 listed building. Finally, we will be continuing to look at ways to improve our service to Members. We intend to build upon the introductory sessions on using our scanner and the Library catalogue that we held last year by giving Members new opportunities to sit down with one of the Library team who will offer book suggestions based on their reading preferences, and also highlighting aspects of the Library collection that they may have overlooked or not known about and will hopefully enjoy discovering. There’s so much to look forward to and get involved with. We hope you will enjoy your year ahead with us. Carl Hutton, CEO 3 Speaks Volumes Volume 20, Feb 2020 News ILA Conference 2020 - Libraries as the Great Good Place Call for Papers This year’s conference theme is inspired by Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place (1989), in which Oldenberg discusses the desirable ‘third place’: public places where anyone can gather and interact. Unlike the first place (home) and the second place (work), third spaces offer inexpensive access to discussion, pleasure, and community, leading to social cohesion, civic engagement, and the wellbeing that comes from a sense of place. Third spaces can be cafes, main streets, coffeehouses, beer gardens.. But it is the library which is a third space par excellence. Its collections, exhibitions and spaces inform debate and encourage self-education, its membership creates and promotes social equality, while its events create and promote social vitality and community. As 2020 host, we are drawing on the theory of the Great Good Place as we work to ensure our future. The ILA’s 2020 conference will explore every way in which independent libraries have been, and will continue to be, Great Good Places to their local, national, and international users in the digital age. It is hoped that representatives from each of the 30 Libraries that now constitute the ILA will be in attendance, and that you will take the opportunity to meet, discuss and celebrate with other conference attendees, all the qualities and shared passions that champions and supporters of independent libraries have, especially at a time when there are a multitude of reasons why, on paper, an independent library should or could struggle to exist. If you would like to submit a paper or find out more, details can be found here: www.independentlibraries.co.uk/annual-meeting The call for papers closes on Friday 22nd February. The Conference takes place at the Leeds Library, Friday 29th - Sunday 31st May. 4 Speaks Volumes Volume 20, Feb 2020 News Library Updates Book Purchasing in the Library Each year the Library acquires around 1500 items to add to our collection. Many of these come from Member recommendations and include books, DVDs, audio recordings, magazines and journals. The ability to source and receive a varied range of items at short notice has been made increasingly simple through using the internet and the ability to purchase items online. Over the last few years the Library team has mainly used one major supplier to acquire not just new additions to the collection but also a broad range of items that the Library requires on a daily basis, ranging from stationery to teabags, cleaning materials to specialist conservation tools. Recently Trustees have discussed our purchasing policy, particularly as it affects books, to ensure that it is aligned with our organisational values and ethical commitments. Following that discussion they have asked that, for a trial period, we find alternative suppliers for books, DVDs and audio recordings. In doing so we will look to achieve comparable economic and service benefits to our traditional supplier. This may mean, however, that over the coming weeks and months the Library team encounters a few delays in sourcing items that have been requested by Members. It may also mean that over time it becomes apparent that the Library has a very slight reduction in the number of items purchased for Members due to having to absorb additional costs from alternative suppliers. We will report back to Members on any final decision made on our procurement strategy later on in the year. Our Next Book Sale! Our next Book Sale is on Saturday 28th March, 10-11am (Members only), 11-3pm (open to all). We’d be delighted to receive any books and DVDs that you may no longer want and wish to donate to the sale. Our last Book Sale raised £500 for the Library’s funds. Thank you very much for your contributions! Locker Key Amnesty We would be really grateful if you would return any locker keys that you may have inadvertently taken home with you. We are experiencing a dearth! Please note also that if there are any lockers left closed at the end of the day we will open them and remove the contents which can then be reclaimed at the Counter for a 2 week period. 5 Speaks Volumes Volume 20, Feb 2020 News Members’ Clubs @The Leeds Library - Join Us! Book Club @ The Leeds Library Our next Book Club is at 5.30pm on Monday 17th February and we will be reading Chocolate House Treason, David Fairer (2019). Followed by The Man Who Wasn't There, Pat Barker (1990) on 16th March. Covent Garden, January 1708. Widow Trotter has big plans for her recently inherited coffee house, not suspecting that within days her little kingdom will be caught up in a national drama involving scandal, conspiracy and murder. Mary Trotter and her young friends Tom and Will are in a race against time to unravel political plots, solve two murders, and prevent another.