Local residents are invited to Bilton and Woodfield Community Library on Saturday 6 May from 11am to celebrate the official reopening of the library after recent maintenance work and to view artworks created during the recent Creative Residencies project.
The library closed in January after flooding caused by a plumbing issue required the replacement of the damaged floor of the library, the adjacent children’s centre and meeting rooms. The repair cost of about £35,000 was met by North Yorkshire County Council, meaning Bilton and Woodfield Community Library Group did not have to stand any of the cost. The library reopened at the end of March.
On 6 May, there will be a formal welcome and reopening at 11.30am and refreshments will be served. Visitors can view the art and find out about the exciting events that the library will offer in the coming months.
Diverse workshops have taken place at the library during the last year as part of the Creative Residencies project. At the reopening event, works by local residents will be exhibited and digital works from the project will be shown as part of the building is transformed into a cinema space.
Art on display will include a stunning embroidered map of the Harrogate district created during workshops with local artist Janet Browne and Roald Dahl-themed stop-frame animations created in workshops last summer with Yorkshire artist Dawn Feather.
Julie Blaisdale, the County Council’s Assistant Director for Libraries and Community Services, said: It’s wonderful to see Bilton and Woodfield Community Library reopened and once again offering its wide-ranging services to local people. The art on display from the Creative Residencies programme is an excellent example of just how diverse and inspiring the work done within the county’s libraries can be.
Greta Knight, chairman of Bilton and Woodfield Community Library Group said: Whilst the closure of the library was a severe blow to us we will now rise to the challenge of showing we are back stronger than ever. This event gives us an excellent opportunity to show what our library, of which we are incredibly proud, has to offer. We are grateful to the County Council for the efficient way the whole incident was dealt with.
In November 2013, North Yorkshire County Council’s library service won almost £100,000 from Arts Council England to put artists into libraries to work with communities. Creative Residencies is the resulting partnership project between the County Council’s Library Service, NYMAZ youth music development charity and the County Council’s youth services to deliver these arts workshops.
As part of the three-year Creative Residencies programme, 24 artists from different creative backgrounds are based in eight libraries to work with library users and other members of the community on projects to widen participation in artistic activity, raise the profile of libraries and engage children, families and older people in intergenerational projects that are fun and inspiring.
