This coming Saturday April 23rd everyone on the planet is encouraged to bury their heads in a book for World Book Night.
Staff at the City Library in Newcastle have taken on-board a national idea by The Society of Chief Librarians – and their partners – to encourage visitors to take selfies of themselves posing with giant sized speech bubbles containing famous quotes from a variety of William Shakespeare’s classic plays.
Some of the speech bubbles include “To be or not to be, that is the question” from Hamlet; “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” from Romeo and Juliet; and “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” from Henry V.
Another reason behind the fun selfies is to mark the final weekend of the City Library hosting a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio which is on display on Level 6. The rare and visibly striking book is on loan from the British Library until this Sunday.
It is the first time this particular copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio has ever ventured outside of the British Library which has been a real coup for Newcastle. The book will be left open at one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
World Book Night is an annual celebration of reading and books that sees passionate volunteers give out hundreds of thousands of books in their communities to share their love of reading with people who don’t read regularly or own books.
World Book Night is run by The Reading Agency, a national charity that inspires people to become confident and enthusiastic readers to help give them an equal chance in life.
Please find below a glance at the World Book Night activities taking place at the City Library throughout Saturday April 23rd.
A talk by author, Marie Paulson-Ellis / 11am
All the World is a Stage a children’s crafts event / 2pm
A reading from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Pete McAndrew of The People’s Theatre who recently portrayed the character ‘Nick Bottom’ in the RSC’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Northern Stage / 2–2.30pm
A talk by author, Rita Bradshaw / 2.30pm
Library staff will also be handing out books outside the City Library from 3.30pm near the Mega Bus
David Fay, Head of Service for Libraries & Leisure and Adult Learning for Newcastle City Council said: “Having Shakespeare’s First Folio at the City Library has been an amazing experience for everyone connected to the Library. It has attracted hundreds of extra people to the Library – visitors who might not have been to the building before. The First Folio has been a real conversion piece and a valuable educational tool for young people from schools across the City – who’ve attended the Library as part of their studies. We give great thanks to The British Library for giving us this fantastic opportunity to generate fond memories for so many different people; and it adds wonderful kudos to our World Book Night celebrations.”
Fiona Hill, Service Specialist in Heritage at Newcastle Libraries, said: “We thought the Shakespeare selfie idea would be a fun way to engage with people as part of the World Book Night celebrations. The City Library will be delivering events throughout the day in preparation for the global festivities across the evening. It promises to be a wonderful weekend and a fitting way to celebrate our time hosting the First Folio and an emotional wave goodbye!”
Shakespeare’s First Folio will remain on-show until Sunday 24th April. It can be seen on Level 6 this Saturdayfrom 9.30am to 5.30pm and on Sunday 11am to 5pm. The viewing is free of charge and everyone is welcome.
The Shakespeare speech bubbles will be scattered around the City Library and the Library team are looking forward to seeing a variety of selfies posted online. Please use the hashtag #shakespeare16, #WorldBookNight or tag the Library using @ToonLibraries.