There’s a rainbow of books on the shelves of the new Ocean Publishing Library as more than two thousand books have been filed according to colour. All the books have been donated. You’ll find best sellers and Classic Literature as well as some wonderful obscure titles, such as, Victorian Tales of Mystery and Detection and Pine Furniture Making.
The library has been set up in the café area of Ocean Studios in the Royal William Yard to encourage people to take a book along with some time to read it. As Alan Qualtrough, one of its proprietors says, the books are there to be enjoyed:
“The library is for everyone, the books are free to come and go, and its success will be measured by the number of titles that are off the shelves.”
Every library needs librarians and proprietor Emma Slate of Slate Publishing is hoping that local residents might be keen to volunteer as ‘caretakers of the books’.
“We hope that, as the first library in Stonehouse, people will make this their own. We’ll be doing what we can, putting on ‘rhyme-time’ sessions for children and hosting a regular book club but, really, we want this to be a place that belongs to the community.”
And because Ocean Publishing Library is about ‘publishing’, Alan and Emma are also encouraging people to write their own stories. Next month they will be starting the first of a series of Creative Writing Workshops for ten-to-twelve people including, among other things, ‘flash fiction’; poetry; lyrics and ‘experimental’ writing. At the end of the project, those participating will help to print a booklet of their finished work on one of the original printing presses within Ocean Studios. The booklet of published work from Stonehouse writers will then be available to everyone and, in doing so, help to ensure that the Ocean Publishing Library is succeeding in making literacy matter in Stonehouse.
Anyone interested in helping out with the library or taking part in the workshops can contact alan.qualtrough@realideas.org
