Over the last year, Creative Island have been working on Connecting Libraries, in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council’s Library Service, with support from Arts Council England (ACE) and Quay Arts, managed by Project Producer, Lisa Kerley.
The ambition for the project is for libraries to be recognised as collaborative, innovative spaces that can meet the needs of future generations.
Four bespoke mini-projects,
The initiative delivered four bespoke mini-projects, pairing libraries with unique community partners to reach diverse groups of young people. Today, Creative Island is proud to share the results of the filmmaking project with Christ the King College and Quay Arts.
The project directly addresses a gap identified in a survey of 300 pupils and local youth consultations, which revealed that many young people were unaware of how to access the diverse resources and memberships their libraries offer.
Paul: Wonderful to see how enthused our young filmmakers were
Claire Paul, Education Director for Creative Island, said,
“It was so wonderful to see how enthused our young filmmakers were about the Island’s Libraries.
“I look forward to witnessing the influence their film has on attracting other young people into Libraries in the future.”
A term-long journey
Under the guidance of local filmmaker Sam Lapham, with support from Quay Arts and Claire Paul, ten pupils embarked on a term-long journey.
The group visited five different libraries across the Island, interviewing staff and capturing footage to redefine what a library means to the next generation.
Emery: We have learned a lot from them
Louise Emery, Development Librarian and Lead for Outreach and Promotion added,
“It has been a fantastic opportunity to work alongside young adults to explore the ways they would like to interact with, and benefit from our services and we feel like we have learned a lot from them about the types of activities they would like more of in libraries.
“We feel that the project has been a really positive experience and has definitely achieved its aim of strengthening our relationships with both young adults in the community and helped us to forge new connections with other cultural organisations.”
Libraries play a unique role
Creative Island recognises the unique role libraries play in the life of our communities as public, accessible, and valued spaces.
We’d like to express our sincerest gratitude to each of the pupils who got involved, and are actively engaging with the library’s fantastic resources.
Montrose: Very proud
Andrew Montrose, Headteacher at Christ the King College, said,
“I am very proud of the group of pupils who have taken part in this important project with Creative Island. They embody many of the values we stand for at Christ the King College: advocacy, community and collaboration.
“We look forward to working with Creative Island over the coming months on a number of other collaborative projects and exploring what else our young people have to say about the things that matter most to them.”
The film will now be distributed to all Island schools as an educational resource, sparking peer-led discussions and ensuring every young person knows how to access the services available at their local library.
News shared by Sam on behalf of Creative Island. Ed
