“The Library represents me and I’m proud to be respresented by the Library”

Lucy Wigens finishes the Book Marks film with her comment about what libraries mean to her personally and her comment echoed what we had captured over three months of working in libraries with staff, readers and their families. The film was shown at all three libraries and Stirchley Open Cinema. Through individual and group interviews, artwork, book marks to hang on the book tree and poetry, hundreds of people shared their library stories and experiences with us.

Book Marks gave people the opportunity to reflect on what their library meant to them and how different their life and the lives of their community would be without it. It told the historical story of libraries in Birmingham through artefacts, photos, records, research and memories, giving a picture of how libraries have adapted and changed to meet the needs of their communities, so they remain at the heart of them. 

The film is a drawing together of the voices we heard through the project and a teaser for the many more voices we could not include in the film but have saved for the archive, which will be accessible at the Library of Birmingham Archives once deposited this summer. 

If you missed the screenings, you can see the film here https://peoplesheritagecoop.uk/projects/book-marks/  with clips of some of our interviews. If you would like to show the film in your own community venue to spread the work about saving libraries and community spaces, please contact us.