Kirklees Libraries deliver an inclusive library service through 24 libraries. Supported by Friends of Groups, volunteers, a Home Service Library and Kirklees Transcription Service, we aim to offer everyone access to culture and the opportunity to be creative. We provide a wide range of high quality cultural and creative experiences and regularly work in partnership with local artists and performers to deliver innovative projects to hard to reach groups. For example, our ‘Being All I Can Be’ project engaged a local poet to work with a group of secondary school pupils and enabled them to express their views and opinions about challenging and relevant social issues. Kirklees Libraries are focused on our contribution to early intervention and prevention and wellbeing agendas and our full and varied programme of events and activities has increased both the digital literacy and literacy skills and experience of all ages. Our popular Invent and Create days have inspired many children and families to develop their STEM skills while our nationally recognised storywalks programme continues to increase and improve reading and literacy levels. Our collection of e-resources has also increased our customer’s reading choices and how they access our service. As well as delivering a wide range of inclusive events and activities, Kirklees Libraries also offer people of all ages the opportunity to volunteer, improve skills and gain valuable work experience. We provide a high quality service and support everyone to achieve their full potential and live healthier and happier lives.
We offer a varied programme of activities for local schools and other settings suitable for both KS1 and KS2 children. Our class visit programme includes workshops around empathy – encouraging children to reflect on characters from age appropriate stories and discuss their motivation and emotions. We also offer an ‘escape room’ style activity to teach and encourage the use of library skills. Ideally, our sessions will be held in one of our libraries, however, we are willing to deliver workshops in school. We deliver a range of multisensory storytelling activities for all ages and, utilising the format of our yearly Greenaway Award shadowing sessions, can also offer art and craft activities based on the wonderful illustrations in various picture books. We have also worked closely with other organisations, such as local theatre companies and artists, in the delivery of our work and often offer schools the opportunity to attend storytelling sessions and workshops with well-known authors and illustrators. We have a wide range of STEM equipment for all ages and can deliver sessions for small groups. For example, we have recently been into a local nursery and enabled the children to develop their coding skills using our fabulous code-a-pillars. We are a registered Arts Award centre and all our Librarians are trained Arts Award advisers. As such, we have enabled many children to achieve an Arts Award certificate at various levels for the activities they have undertaken with us. To find out more about working with us please email LIC.SupportServices@kirklees.gov.uk