feature: Get reading in 2008
14 May 2008
2008 is the National Year of Reading, and Haringey will be celebrating and promoting reading with author events, reading groups, family reading activities and much more.
The aim is to encourage reading for people of all ages and backgrounds, providing new opportunities to read and helping people access help and support through schools and libraries.
Themed activities month by month include holiday and summer reads, storytelling and reading out loud, reading for learning and wellbeing, and the writing of the future, texting and blogging.
“Literacy is obviously important for work and personal development, but reading is also about pleasure and general learning, and sharing our reading is a great way to bring people and cultures together,” says Cllr Dhiren Basu, cabinet member for leisure, culture and lifelong learning.
“Over the coming 12 months we will be encouraging everyone to visit the library, share their experiences and celebrate their reading together.
“And we will be working with schools and other partners to build a legacy of reading across the borough.”
The Year of Reading has already seen Haringey’s first ever literary festival, with a focus on local talent and a host of events from author talks to storytelling, writing classes and literary walks.
Local authors taking part included Booker Prize nominee Romesh Gunesekera, romantic novelist Freya North, who writes her books in Alexandra Park library, and Stephen Games, an expert on poet and longtime Highgate resident John Betjeman.
Check your local library for details of activities through the year, or visit www.haringey.gov.uk/libraries_whatson.
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