LIBRARY LIFE

Gladstone's Library, Hawarden

We ran an event last week featuring poet Rebecca Watts. Before Rebecca stood to deliver her talk, I asked the audience whether any of them were writers.

Every single person in the room put their hands up.

Gladstone's Library is a writing place as well as a reading place. But that is not to say that only writers and researchers are welcome.

We encounter persistent myths during interactions with potential guests, some of which will be common to libraries in general, while others are specific to Gladstone's Library.

One of them is that you must be a writer or 'serious' researcher to make use of the Reading Rooms or come in to visit.

Someone sent a query in a few weeks ago asking whether you had to be a writer to stay over in one of the bedrooms.

The answer was that everyone is welcome, although you'll probably enjoy staying here more if you like books.

The truth is that there are as many reasons to visit Gladstone's Library as there are visitors.

This time of year, you can spot students revising with quiet, furious focus in the silent Reading Rooms or over a cup of tea in the Gladstone Room.

We know some visitors pop in if they are working from home, either for a break or to get some work done in a new environment.

Some overnight guests book in because they want to stay somewhere a bit different, because they have an appointment or a meeting in the area or because the Library provides a nice stopping-place at some point on a longer journey.

You'll probably find a higher-than-average number of writers in Gladstone's Library per capita but you absolutely do not have to think of yourself as a writer or researcher to enjoy the Library.

Our registered Readers are welcome whether they want to curl up with a bestseller or to write one!