Welcome
Welcome to our December edition, featuring our festive
show which starts very soon, an exciting announcement about the new
Leeds Storytelling Festival, winter book recommendations and more...
If you're not already, make sure you're following us on
social media to get the latest news and see what we're up to. You can
also check out our What's On in Leeds Libraries page on Leeds Inspired for
more details.
The Stolen Stories of Winterlight
14 December 2024 to 5 January 2025
Can you imagine a world without stories? Words are
fading from books all over town and people are forgetting the stories
they used to know off by heart. Winterlight Festival is fast
approaching when tales are told with family and friends. If all
stories disappear and children can’t tell their own stories, their
voices may be lost forever. Newly qualified storymaker, Tan, sets off
on an adventure of a lifetime to discover the mystery of these stolen
stories. With her hapless new apprentice tagging along, will they
ever find a way to work together and return the words to the pages in
time for Winterlight?
EVERYONE is invited to enjoy Libellule performances - we
look forward to welcoming you!
A family-friendly show for
children aged 5+ and their grown-ups.
More info and tickets: Ticketsource - The Stolen Stories of
Winterlight
 Exciting announcement!
Leeds Storytelling Festival will launch in 2025 across Leeds from 13 Feb - 8
March.
The magic of storytelling unites cultures and
generations. And for three weeks, this brand new family festival
will illuminate our city.
From award-winning family theatre and acclaimed author
readings to costume-making workshops and a city-wide trail, this
truly is a festival for everyone.
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 Folktales, storytelling, and the politics of
interpretation
A Leeds Cultural Conversation
presented by Professors Emily Zobel Marshall and Phil Cardew
Thursday 12 December 1.00-2.00pm, Sanderson Room,
Central Library
Communities exist in a context of tension, between
social forces which seek to organise and control their world view
and more disruptive forces which undermine the status quo and
resist oppressive power.
This is exemplified in the relationship between folk
tales, the oral tradition and authored narratives, where the
transition from community text to a single perspective can be seen
as an organising force which often supports the prioritisation or
dominance of a particular society.
Using examples from the African diaspora and European
medieval and nineteenth-century environments, this conversation
will explore these tensions and relationships, considering colonial
legacies and the way in which social and political ambitions are
played out in folklore traditions.
Free talk, booking required.
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Christmas opening hours
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 All of our libraries and community hubs are closed on
Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Sundays 29 December
and 5 January. All sites will reopen as normal on Monday 6 January.
If you can't visit us in person, but still want to use
our library services, you can reserve and renew your books by logging in to our catalogue. We
have a wide variety of eBooks and eAudiobooks to check out via BorrowBox or magazines, newspapers
and comics from Libby.
You can also access lots of helpful information
with your library membership, such as Theory Test Pro, IELTS or
historical newspapers.
Full details of all of our opening hours over the
festive period can be found here.
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Read Easy
Read Easy are a charity in Leeds that supports adults
learning to read, and they meet to learn in our libraries. We held
our 3rd successful Read Easy certificate celebration at Central
Library on 23 November. Seven people collected certificates. One person's
goal was to read a story to their child. Their goal was achieved this
month! Other readers have gained promotions, learned to drive and
learned to read again after traumatic injury.
If you would like to volunteer as a coach to help
somebody learn to read, or know somebody who may need a bit of
support reading, please get in touch with Charlotte: leedscoordinator2@readeasy.org.uk
We have Read Easy book collections available at Armley,
Central, Compton and Dewsbury Road libraries. Our collections can be
found on our catalogue home page under Collections or you can reserve them here. We also have an Easy Reads
collection on Borrowbox.
Grief Awareness Week 2-8 December
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 This week is Grief Awareness week, and this year’s
theme is Shine a Light, encouraging conversations on death and
grieving, and sharing awareness of the wonderful work done by
bereavement organisations.
To help shine a light in Leeds Libraries, we’re
hosting a relaxed, informal Death Café at Chapel Allerton Library
on Monday 2nd December at 12.00-1.00pm hosted by end of life doulas
Viv and Vicky. Just turn up for refreshments and chat in a safe
space.
We’ve also assembled a book collection made up of
recommendations by library staff and bereavement organisations,
available for you to reserve and borrow here, or scan
the QR code above.
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Our winter book recommendations
Our library staff have recommended a few books for you
to cosy up to this winter...
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 A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
Alex recommends this novella, a
companion to the author's best-selling "A Court of Thorns and
Roses" series and set at Christmas.
Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends are still busy
rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly altered world beyond,
recovering from the war that changed everything. But Winter
Solstice is finally approaching, and with it, the joy of a
hard-earned reprieve.
Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows
of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter
Solstice as High Lady, her concern for those dearest to her
deepens. They have more wounds than she anticipated - scars that
will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.
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 The Dark is
Rising by Susan Cooper
Mark loves this second book in
the series...
A winter read of accumulating snow and dread, this YA
fantasy classic will immerse you in its blend of Arthurian
mythology, ancient folklore, mythic evil and battle between the
Dark and the Light. More In the Bleak Midwinter than Jingle Bells,
lean in and let the foreboding snow you in.
Tonight will be bad, and tomorrow will be beyond
imagining…
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 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Jacqui chose this classic,
which is also the Christmas show at Leeds Playhouse this
year.
Four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, step
through a wardrobe door in a strange country house and find
themselves in Narnia. Frozen in eternal winter, Narnia is a land of
snow and pine forests, and its creatures are enslaved by the
terrible White Witch.
Tempted by the promise of endless Turkish Delight,
Edmund becomes the White Witch's servant - and it's up to his
brother and sisters to release him from his enchantment and rid
Narnia of the witch.
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Have your say
The National Poetry Centre is the brainchild and legacy
of the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. It will be the country’s first
dedicated national headquarters for poetry, rescuing an old church -
Trinity St Davids, an iconic building in the heart of Leeds - to
provide a unique hub for British Poetry combining events, exhibition
and archive.
They would like to know what poetry means to you, and
what you'd like to see the centre be and do. Complete the survey to let them
know.
Donate
If you're thinking of supporting us this festive season,
we accept cash donations online. It all goes towards enhancing our
services and buying items to support our work, for example:
- £5 could buy supplies
for a workshop
- £10 could buy a book
cushion to support rare books on display
- £25 could buy 100
archival folders
- £50 could buy a set
of books for a reader's group
Find out more and donate here.
Find out more
Did you know we have two further library newsletters,
where you can find out more about family friendly activities, local
history and books and reading? Sign up here:
Thank you for reading our latest
newsletter. We look forward to welcoming you soon - get in touch or find your
local library
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