Many Voices Collection: books and storytelling at the library!

October is Black History Month and to celebrate, the Many Voices Collection will be popping up at the library during our opening hours!

The Many Voices Collection is a collection curated by Oxford Poetry Library and The Children’s Allotment of childrens books featuring black characters, written by black writers, or which centre an anti-racist message. These books form part of the Oxford Poetry Library’s lending collection, free to be borrowed and enjoyed for free by kids and adults alike.

The full Many Voices Collection will be available for visitors to browse, read, borrow, and enjoy during our opening hours of 12pm-3pm at The Community Works on both Friday 11 October and Saturday 12 October. The pop-up is completely free, drop in whenever you like and stay for as long as you like between 12pm and 3pm – suitable for kids of all ages!

As well as our books, and made possible by the Transition Network and CAG Oxfordshire, we have created a selection of videos of local black storytellers reading their favourite stories from the collection. From 12pm-3pm, we will screen these videos in a cosy storytelling space! Kids and their grown-ups are invited to join Aunty Kiko as she shares Baby Elephant’s Safari by Aunty Kiko and illustrated by Moses Wanjuki, Rawz in a story of magic, music, and monsters, as he reads Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger, illustrated by Michael Hays, and Tiece who shares a favourite story from her childhood, Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch.

This event is happening in partnership with Makespace Oxford’s Black History Month programming.