World Book Night at Kensington Central library was a really special event as, for the first time, this year it fell on a day when we would normally close at 5pm but the lending library stayed open until 8pm.
Not only were the regular lending services available thanks to our staff members Mandy, Lynn and Nina but we celebrated with free tea, coffee and finger food, free special edition World Book Night books to give away and a fascinating talk by author and musician Max Décharné.
Max Decharne at the Central Library
He talked about his latest book Capital Crimes: Seven Centuries of London Life and Murder to an enthusiastic audience, some of whom went on to buy signed copies from our partners, Waterstones. The feedback from the public was great, two people came from Maida Vale especially for it, other people said it was a really interesting talk and someone else was extremely grateful for the free books! Max, the author, was impressed with the questions after his talk and very complimentary about the look of the Central library.
Max Decharne at the Central Library
Thanks are also due to our staff members Mzu and Wendy for their help setting up, meeting and greeting and clearing up afterwards and also to Wendy for her World Book Night bunting which finally found its place indoors!
The next best thing to reading a wonderful book is introducing it to someone else- and next Wednesday (23rd April) is World Book Night, the perfect opportunity not only for readers but also for non-readers to discover and explore more about books and reading.
From http://www.worldbooknight.org/:
World Book Night sees passionate volunteers give hundreds of thousands of books away in their communities to share their love of reading with people who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.
In the UK 35% of people don’t regularly read despite reading for pleasure being a globally recognised indicator in a huge range of social issues from poverty to mental health.
World Book Night is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost the love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph until they too have discovered the power of reading and the opportunities in life that reading can open the door to.
We’ll be celebrating World Book Night at Kensington Central Library with extra late opening hours and a special guest: author Max Décharné.
Max Décharné is an author, journalist and rock’n’roll musician probably best known for being the drummer for Gallon Drunk (who toured with Morrissey). His writing career has included short stories, journalism, songwriting, books on hipster slang and cinema. The latter two were an opportunity for Décharné to watch his favourite films and indulge his passion for pulp fiction novels from the 1950s and 1960s. He has written for magazines such Mojo and Bizarre, even writing on his North American tour with Gallon Drunk in the former. He was the last man to interview John Peel before he died (Peel and Décharné were mutual admirers).
Max’s latest book, Capital Crimes: seven centuries of London life and murder tells the shifting story of crime and punishment in London through vivid re-creations of a series of murders that stretches from the killing of Roger Legett, a notorious ‘questmonger’, during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, through to the hanging of Styllou Christofi in 1954. These lives and fates have much to tell us – about London’s changing underworld, about the slow evolution of policing in the capital, and about the sometimes strange workings of the law. Illustrated throughout with contemporary engravings and photographs, this is an essential read for all devotees of London – and of crime.
Capital Crimes
For more information about this event, please click here– we hope to see you on the night!
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