February the 2nd is Love Your Library day in Midlothian here in Scotland. I am delighted to have been asked to support this special day by running a creative writing workshop in Danderhall Library for under 16s. Yeh hey! Click here for more details. All welcome 🙂
While I am running my writing workshop there will be a Pole Dancing Class in a neighbouring sister Midlothian library (for over 16s, I hasten to add) – this is also part of the Midlothian council’s Love Your Library celebrations. The class has caused some controversy. You can read about it here The Whitby Gazette and here …
The Guardian and here …
The Daily Record and here …
The Independent and here …
The Telegraph and here …
The Daily Mail and so on …!
The council has certainly got the attention of the press but will the class get people into the library? What do you think? Should libraries offer free pole dancing classes to entice people in, or is pole dancing a (dance) step too far? Would it encourage you to visit your library or put you off? I’d love to hear what you think.
PS: I want to thank Bibi for her great photo 🙂
Go Midlothian libraries, I say! Pole dancing, nude calendars, shot-drinking sessions -whatever P.R.stunts it takes to hook the readers in, go for it! (howabout go fishing with a book; ride pillion and read; gangnam n’ read…)
Ha ha ha! Yep, desperate times call for desperate measures!
I don’t have a problem with it, its often best to do something a little different… no one would have turned up if it was Zumba or something as they can get that anywhere. Also no one is forcing you to take part but if you do it can be fully clothed :).
Good Luck! With your day it sounds fun.
If it means more people start using the library, well bring it on! After all, if we don’t use them, we lose them!
Thanks for good wishes. I’m sure I’ll have a good time with my under 16s – dancing or no dancing ;o)
Hmm … pole dancing – probably the only dance I haven’t tried! I say the library should go for it, it sounds great fun. Hope the creave writing course is fun, Marianne.
The dancing does sound fun, if not a tad challenging! I’ve been to ‘opera in the library’ and ‘murder in the library’, so why not pole dancing? Of course, I won’t be there but I’m keen to hear from anyone who does go, be great to hear how it went.
( I’m sure the writing will be fun too, but in a different way – pole dancing may even get a mention! ha ha!)
I am a big fan of all kinds of dancing classes in all kinds of venues – my question is …’What other dancing classes are they offering?’ If it is only pole dancing then they are just being a bit cheeky. Maybe Scottish country dancing doesn’t have the same appeal!!
I think one of the links says they are offering other types of dancing in another library, but I may be wrong. Certainly there’s to be free massage and table tennis with books for bats (!?) and Xbox games to play – and , oh, yes, that novel writing workshop 😉
ps yes, I don’t think the media would have reacted to Scottish County Dancing in the same way 😉
yes the library does have Scottish Country Dancing as well as music from a number of local bands. These are all peripheral to the main events which are reading based. Great Scottish crime authors Stuart MacBride, Quinton Jardin, Lin Anderson are appearing as are Peter Kerr and J A Henderson. Shame we don’t get as much publicity for them without having the gimmicks – but the gimmicks work to spread the word.
Philip Wark Library Services Manager Midlothian
Hey Philip, great to hear from you! I thought I’d read there was some Scottish Country dancing going on, brilliant! And what a wonderful literary line-up – as well as all the fun events! Yes, the gimmicks have certainly helped spread the word but when it’s so difficult to get heard (and so costly) what a great way to get a bit of attention. Looking forward to supporting Love Your Library Day 2013 and helping encourage new young writers find their voices 🙂
PS: Just found this excellent link to the full programme!
oops, I forgot to ad the link for everyone else, it’s also at the top of this page now 🙂
http://www.midlothian.gov.uk/events/event/509/love_your_library_day_2013