Interview: Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho's library marathon
BY READERS DIGEST
8th Oct 2023 Inspire
6 min read
Meet Joseph Coelho, author, poet, Waterstones Children’s Laureate, and the man who has spent the last four years visiting and signing up
to a library in every authority in Britain that he can—even cycling 107 miles
between some of them on a bamboo bicycle that he made himself!
Upon completion of his nationwide ‘library marathon’ on October 7, Joseph joined other authors and illustrators at The British Library for a
family friendly day celebrating the vital role libraries play in our
communities as free, fun and educational safe spaces.
Why are libraries so important—for communities in general and you specifically?
Joseph Coelho in Luton library
I see libraries as the hubs of communities and not many
people realise that as well as books, they
also offer access to vital council services. Libraries are safe spaces where
people can, especially at the moment, go to be warm. Where you can go and sit and you don’t need to buy anything.
I’ve heard about an OAP who sits in her local library and
knits all day. You can go to libraries and have health checks. Some libraries
have drop-in health centres where you can weigh a new born baby or change the
batteries to your hearing aid.
"Libraries are the hubs of communities where people come together"
There are board game clubs, lego clubs, knit'n'natter
groups. Libraries really are the hubs of communities where people can come together,
where students can go to find a quiet place to study, where parents can go with
their very young children to take part in rhyme time sessions, which are vital
for new parents learning how to interact with their children and books in a
community setting with other parents. I think libraries offer so much.
For me personally, libraries have always been a big part of
my life, they made me a reader at an early age. I’ve worked in many libraries,
I studied in local libraries for my GCSEs and my A-Levels, I worked at The
British Library when I was at university, so libraries helped get me through my
degree in many ways, as a job but also a sanctuary to go to study.
Have you seen an evolution in the role of libraries, especially since the cost of living crisis, as libraries have become safe, warm spaces for people who can’t afford to heat their own homes?
Joseph Coelho in Edinburgh library
It’s simple things like some libraries offer free tea and
coffee so you can just go in, stay warm and get a hot drink. It’s such a simple
thing but you can imagine the impact that has for someone who just wants to go
and sit down and be warm.
I’ve seen evolution in the fact that some libraries have 3D
printers and some offer coding classes or English
language courses. There’s a real range of services on offer as well as links to
vital council services and mental health services. Often there’s information at
the library about where people can go who need help.
I feel like libraries have always been at the forefront of
offering more and keeping ahead of the time. There are libraries that offer out
iPads, and I was just at Bury library where you can borrow a bike using your library card!
In some libraries you can hire thermal imaging cameras if
you wanted to check heat leakages on your home. Whereas others, like a library in
Jersey, has a little library bike that goes out and does the rounds round the
local park where people can borrow a book.
From the highly technological to
just some great, simple ideas, libraries have always been at the forefront of
offering ways into reading but also so much more.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen during your library marathon?
Joseph Coelho at Waterstones Shetland
There was an exhibition in a library in Bristol of things
found between the pages of library books, and one thing that’s quite common is
rashers of bacon, so that was quite an unusual thing! But then you get lovely
stories as well, like librarians who know individuals who are regular users of
the libraries, like some people with multiple learning difficulties who feel
safe coming to the library because it’s open and non-threatening.
"There’s a real connection librarians have with people who are using the library and the community"
There’s a real connection librarians have with people who
are using the library and the community, and those librarians are responding to
what people are reading, so they will curate the collection of books according
to what the local community require.
I was at a library the other day where on the table as you
entered there was a puzzle, and there’s something so simple and lovely about
that. The librarians were saying how surprised they were about how quickly that
puzzle was completed, and it’s such a gorgeous thing because all of these people
are coming in and they’re adding a piece.
There’s something so wonderful and
simple and beautiful about that. Where else can you engage as a community in a
free welcome space in something as simple as a puzzle?
Where did the idea come from to do the library marathon?
Joseph Coelho on his bamboo bike
As I say, I’ve always been in libraries, both as a patron
myself but also as an author; I used to tour children’s theatre shows to
libraries. In 2018, it struck me that maybe I could join every library I
visited, so it started out as that.
Then I realised that once you’re a member of
one library in one authority then you’re a member of all the libraries in that
authority, so you can’t really join every single library but I could join every
library authority.
So I began, cautiously at first, joining library authorities
and then as the word spread librarians started to look out for me and it became
a great opportunity to promote libraries and their services. It was wonderful
to see libraries sometimes reaching out to schools they had perhaps lost
contact with, especially over covid.
If I go and I do a free event, librarians
can invite schools to do a visit for free to come and meet an author, and it’s of
course wonderful to have the honour of being children’s laureate as that adds
some specialness to my visit.
As children’s laureate, you’ve written more than 30 children’s books! What is it about children’s writing and children’s literature that really interests and excites you?
Joseph Coelho reading aloud in Stevenage Library
Children’s literature feels like such a magical area to work
in. When I first started out as a performance poet, I was unpublished and just
sharing poems that I was coming up with, with young people, in schools and in libraries
and theatres.
It’s this wonderful space because I think we all remember
when we were kids: your imagination is off the chart, and the world still holds
this special magical feeling. Children are very keen to hear stories and
poems that push at the boundaries, that are about big issues, that do explore
themes and feelings and emotions.
"It feels like a great honour to write stories and poems to help children navigate the world they are living in"
It feels like a great honour to write stories and poems to
help children navigate the world they are living in, but that can also be an
escape, to take them into those magical spaces. I feel very passionate about
promoting up and coming writers and illustrators, to help diversify bookshelves.
We’re doing that through the Bookmaker Like You project
that Book Trust is organising, where we’re talking about festivals up and down
and the country and new voices in children’s literature.
It's an opportunity to find out about new work, but also to get a look behind the curtain
to find about how these authors, illustrators and poets got into the industry,
so that these children can imagine themselves working in the industry and in
those roles. I felt like it was important to cover those bases as children’s
laureate.
It’s a wonderful opportunity to shout about other authors
and illustrators and libraries, and to get young people writing poems, to write
them into the world of poetry writing. There are now 43 poetry videos on the Book Trust website, each is five to ten minutes long, and in each one I lead a very simple activity that encourages children to write their own poems.
Do you have any book recommendations for people who want to get into reading?
Joseph Coelho with his bamboo bike. Credit: Jonathon Vines
We’re so spoilt with the amount of brilliant children's books coming out. I’ve just recently finished Xanthe and the Ruby Crown by Jasbinder
Bilan. It’s a fantastic book about dementia actually and adventure and magic,
so it’s a really touching, magical story. Also on a similar theme, The Stories Grandma Forgot, by Nadine Aisha Jassat, is another fantastic book about
memory and a young girl helping her grandma remember her past.
I’m also reading Mind and Me, which is an illustrated,
younger middle-grade book by Sunita Chawdhary, which is a brilliant book where this little girl’s mind is a character, so she’s a
character and her mind is as well, which is a brilliant idea.
What are your plans for the future and what are you most excited about?
Joseph Coelho at Waterstones Shetland
I’m excited about the events we’ve got coming up for the Bookmaker Like You project; it’s not only encouraging young people to find out
more about the industry but also adults as well that are interested in writing
for children.
I’ve got some more books to write. I’m writing a new magical middle-grade series which comes out next year and,
right now as we speak, Luna Loves Library Day the Musical is in rehearsal and will
be touring around the country.
Luna loves Library Day was my first picture book, but it’s
been turned into a musical by a theatre company Little Seeds and I’ve had so
much fun writing that with David Gibb who’s the composer, so I'm looking forward to
that.
Banner credit: Jonathon Vines
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