|
|
|
| 02/02/2010 |
INNOVATIVE LIVING LIBRARY EVENT TO BE HELD IN HALTON LEA LIBRARY RUNCORN |
|
PUBLIC sector union UNISON is staging one of a series of innovative "Living Library" events in Halton Lea to try and improve community cohesion in the town and wider region.
Instead of checking out a normal book, people will be able to "borrow" a trade union member who has their own unique story to tell.
UNISON's library event takes place at Holton Lea Library, on Thursday 11th February 2010 from 2pm to 7pm.
Amongst the 'living books' available will be a Jamaican man's experiences of building a life for himself in the UK, a Muslim man's problems in British society following the 7/7 and 9/11 woman's account of overcoming sexual harassment in the workplace, and a man's lifelong struggle with epilepsy.
Helen Titherington, Regional Education Co-ordinator for UNISON North West, said the project offers a novel way of improving community cohesion across the region. The union has built up its own catalogue of members from the public sector to be books with stories and backgrounds that are designed to challenge prejudice and stereotypical views.
The public can choose from a catalogue of twelve books, sit and listen to their stories in small groups or on a one on one basis and then ask questions for up to twenty minutes.
The Living Libraries idea came from Denmark in the year 2000 and has been praised as a great way of getting people with different backgrounds to talk to each other and gain a different perspective on life.
Ms Titherington who is running the project for Unison explained that "many people think that as a trade union we concern ourselves purely with workplace issues, but our diverse membership plays an important role in making our communities vibrant and tolerant places to live, and this series of events is a natural extension of that".
In addition to showing a different aspect of trade union work the events also hope to help in the effort to get more people to visit their local libraries and take advantage of the facilities on offer.
Jane Mathieson, Regional Reader Development Co-ordinator for Time to Read in the North West, which aims to attract more people into our libraries, applauded the idea. She said: "Public Library staff in the North West have been thrilled at the reaction to these events in other libraries across the region. They have been so warmly received by members of the public. There are so many people with interesting stories to tell in our region and this has been a novel way of getting them out to readers."
|
|
|
CONTACT DETAILS
• To find out more about membership benefits contact our helpline, UNISONdirect on 0845 355 0845. Lines are open 6am-midnight Mon to Fri and 9am-4pm Sat.
|
|
