World Book Night 2012 at Willesden Library

This Monday 23^rd April, Willesden Green Library hosted World Book Night (WBN). 

World Book Night 2012 was created to help encourage reading, to celebrate literature and the pleasure one can get from books. Literature lovers were given the opportunity to donate their book of choice from the voted “top 25 favourite books” to local residents, community groups and charities. When borrowing just one book, participants were entered into a raffle prize draw, whereas if participants borrowed six books, they won a free DVD-hire and a Brent Libraries bag.

Books ranged from the classics – Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South and Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield – to the inspiring: Phillip Williamson’s 50 Architecture Ideas and Duncan Bannatyne’s Wake Up and Change Your Life. There were also entertaining graphic novels, such as the mighty Thor, comical reads such as The Simpsons, and popular teen love story Twilight.

As well as an endless supply of books, the library was packed with stalls. Guests were able to enjoy head, neck and shoulder massages for just £3 and there were free reflexology sessions, where you could put your feet up and relax. Denise Roberts offered Angel Tarot Card readings and there was also a nail-art stand.

To complement the entertainment of the evening, there were food stalls around the library serving dishes of every variety. Dylan’s Delights served tea and cakes, Sonya’s Foods served jerk chicken and curried goat and Absolute Delight offered a chocolate fountain with strawberries and marshmallows! To water it all down, there was a cocktail and wine bar, providing the very best of beverages.

In addition to the entertainment, the Pop-Up Shakespeare Theatre joined in the festivities as they sang adapted songs from some of Shakespeare’s most famous works around the library in celebration of his 448^th birthday. There were also readings of his greatest achievements, from Sonnet 18 to extracts from Much Ado about Nothing.

The evening was wrapped up with particularly refreshing sketches from the First Lady of comedy, Angie Le Mar, among other comedians. They put on skits to join in and celebrate their love of reading, with all the attendees together.

Wendy Levingston, a librarian at Willesden Green, said of the evening, “World Book Night brings everyone together. You get to meet new people and it’s a very sociable event. I wish we had it more often”.

Angela Constable, a first-time guest, loved the event: “I love books, and this event is perfect for booklovers. It’s a great networking place too”. Of the Angel Cards tarot reader Denise Roberts, Constable said: “ She is a thing of virtue”.

Zanib Asghar

Here are some events coming up in Brent libraries this month:

Wednesday 25^th April 2012 – London in 1837

Join Brent Museum and Brent Archives’s Heritage Officer, Malcolm Barres-Baker, for an illustrated talk on London in 1837, the year Oliver Twist was first published. The talk will also be accompanied by an opportunity to look at genuine objects and documents from the period. This event will take place from 11am-12:20pm in Kingsbury Library Plus.

Thursday 26^th April 2012 – Charles Dickens and The House of Fallen Women

Meet Jenny Hartley as she discusses her book Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women. This fascinating book is based on a true story; of Dickens setting up a house in Shepherd’s Bush in which girls from the streets, the prisons and the workhouses might be changed through kindness and discipline, and so be prepared for new lives in the colonies. Find out how the girls Dickens helped and influenced the character of his novels; and speculate on what philanthropic acts Dickens would do if he were alive today. This one-on-one with author Hartley will take place at Willesden Green Library, from 7-8pm. Copies of the book will be on sale on the day.

Friday 27^th April 2012 – Dickens and Kensal Green Cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery is rich in associations with the life and work of Charles Dickens; through his beloved sister-in-law Mary Hogarth, fellow writers including Thackeray, Trollope, Collins, Forster and Ainsworth, illustrators, publishers, patrons, actors in his plays and even models for his characters. The friends of Kensal Green will present a talk on these fascinating local links at Willesden Green Library from 6:30-8pm.

For more events around Brent and in Brent libraries, click here.