2008 is the National Year of Reading and libraries around the county are on a mission to get everyone to open a book and get reading!
There’s nothing better than settling down in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a good book to read. Miner Roland Thomson from Honister Slate Mine has found it doesn’t matter where you are to enjoy reading as you can take a book with you anywhere, even down a mine!
The campaign, which is running across England and Wales for the whole of this year, is aimed at highlighting the benefits of reading, and how important reading is to everyday life. The national campaign kicked off in April with the first-ever library membership drive which aims to recruit 350,000 new library members across the country.
In Cumbria, the Library Service launched the National Year of Reading on 23 April with ’10 at 10’ which urged everyone to take ten minutes out of their day at 10am to read something. Roland stopped what he was doing for a quick read of the Jules Verne’s classic ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’
Why not stock up on some summer holiday reading at your local library? You could try some of these titles, recommended by Cumbria Libraries:
Blood Riverby Tim Butcher
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall
The Woods by Harlan Coben
Libraries across Cumbria will be hosting a series of events and activities for the duration of the campaign. For more information about these, the National Year of Reading and joining the library visit cumbria.gov.uk/libraries