I love books. I love reading. I love bookshops. And I love libraries (slight bias there as I am a Librarian after all). So Book Week Scotland is a perfect opportunity to remember why I became a librarian in the first place – I love books and I love reading and I want to share that with other people.
So if, like me, you love books, you love reading or you love libraries then why not take a quick break from your studies before exams start and get involved in Book Week Scotland, this week:
You can attend one of the many events being held around Scotland this week:
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/events
Why not visit the “Book Marks” event at Edinburgh College of Art tomorrow (27 Nov, 16:00 – 20:00). A “festival of books which celebrates the huge variety of ways the book form is used by staff, students and alumni at Edinburgh College of Art.”
http://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/news-events/book-marks
Write a Love Letter to a Library. What Library has had a big impact on your life? Or what Library could you not live without? For me it was the small public library in the town I grew up in. In a time before Amazon (I know, I’m old) and with no local book shop the library was my dealer of books.
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/love-letters-to-libraries
Find your Literary Love Match. I got Sirius Black from the Harry Potter books and I think I am OK with that.
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/literary-love-match
Or vote for your Favourite Character from a Scottish book. Choose from the long list provided or add your own. Why not have a look at the choices of some of the staff from the Main Library Helpdesk if you are not sure who to vote for.
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/vote-for-your-favourite-character-from-a-scottish-book (I voted for Kali from the fantastic Boy with the Bronze Axe but hard to choose just one!)
Why not make a Reading Pledge for Book Week Scotland? Take time out from your studying to read a book or use your local library or buy a book from a local bookshop.
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/reading-pledge
And don’t forget your own University Library. Why not visit one of the University’s libraries that you’ve never been to before (http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/library-locations)? Or find out more about the Library’s old books and archives at the Centre for Research Collections (CRC)?
For more information on Book Week Scotland see their website at http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science