LIBRARY LIFE

Gladstone's Library, Hawarden

By Rhian Waller - Gladstone's Library PR and marketing

I'm excited about this weekend. This Sunday, Andrew Graystone is presenting a talk at the library. It's on the thorny subject of abuse within the Church, but having spoken to Andrew about his writing, I know that however difficult the topic, his talk will be underpinned by compassion and hope.

Part of my job at Gladstone's Library is to help organise the events held here. We welcome authors, political speakers and teachers to Gladstone's, and many of them - including our Writers in Residence - lead talks, masterclasses, courses and activities at the library.

The dates and themes of these events are decided between the speakers and warden, Peter Francis, and director of collections and research Louisa Yates.

Once the dates and details are hammered out, they are passed onto me to issue tickets and let people know what's going on and when.

It's a very rewarding part of my role: I love logging in to see people snapping up tickets. I also get to be there on the night, filming events that vary from nature poetry readings to discussions of journalistic freedom to fantasy worlds. Every discussion I have attended so far has been fascinating and illuminating.

However, the changing Covid restrictions in Wales have made it tricky to manage.

At the moment, we have capped ticket numbers to make sure we can socially distance inside and stay on the right side of Welsh Covid rules.

The announcement that, from January 28, we might go down to Alert Level 0 (no restriction on indoor activities) is exciting, but it has felt a bit disorientating at times as the numbers we have been allowed to invite have zig-zagged up and down.

Despite this uncertainty, we managed to deliver a healthy programme of events in 2021, and we have many more planned for 2022, including our micro-festival Hearth, which features fireside chats with writers Amy Sackville (The Still Point), Alice Jolly (Dr Asperger's Dilemma), Carys Bray (When the Lights Go Out) and Rosalind Hudis (Restorations).

It is incredibly important our attendees and speakers feel safe and comfortable. People can now attend most of our events online, if they wish, and we will keep working to make sure our in-person events are planned with Covid-caution in mind.

Visit Events & courses | Gladstone's Library (gladstoneslibrary.org) to see what we have booked in for this year.