Shropshire Libraries to host ‘reader in residence’ Deborah Alma at Craven Arms Library

Craven Arms Library is set to get its very own ‘reader in residence’, as part of a regional programme that links artists with libraries. There will be an exciting range of activities and events revolving around readers and reading, led by the reader in residence Deborah Alma.

The aim is to develop new ways to enjoy reading experiences, and Deborah is planning to work with the local community, the existing groups within CasCA (Craven Arms Community Centre) and schools in the area from October 2015 to February 2016.

Maria Darcy, CasCA manager, said:

“Craven Arms Library is delighted to have been chosen by West Midlands Readers Network to host reader in residence Deborah Alma, otherwise known as the ‘Emergency Poet’. This is an exciting opportunity for the local community to take part in a number of different events over the coming months: for further details please contact library@furniturescheme.co.uk.”

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for business and culture, said:-

‘Craven Arms Library is one of the first libraries in the county to be run by a partner organisation within the community, so this great project shows what can be achieved with this sort of arrangement.”

Deborah Alma is a poet with an MA in creative writing, who specialises in working with poetry and people with dementia and other vulnerable groups. She is also ‘Emergency Poet’ in her 1970s ambulance, and performs at literary, music and arts festivals, schools, hospitals and libraries all over the country – http://emergencypoet.com/. She is editor of Emergency Poet, an anti-stress poetry anthology, and her True Tales of the Countryside is published by The Emma Press.

Roz Goddard, West Midlands Readers’ Network Co-ordinator, said:

“West Midlands Readers Network is delighted to have secured funding from Arts Council England for our reader in residence programme. The aim is to place a practitioner in a host library in order for them to initiate and test out new ways of engaging readers. We are very happy to have appointed Deb Alma aka the Emergency Poet, to work with Craven Arms Library to develop a really exciting programme of activity over the autumn and winter months. Look out for special reading events, work with local schools and even the launch of a new writing group. This residency is sure to be something very special.”

You can find out more about the reader in residence events at shropshire.gov.uk/libraries/.

Further information on West Midlands Readers’ Network at http://www.wmreadersnetwork.co.uk/.

The Furniture Scheme –http://www.furniturescheme.co.uk/.

For more information contact Mirka Duxberry on 01743 255031 or email mirka.duxberry@shropshire.gov.uk.