A POET has challenged himself to visit and join a library in every authority in the UK in a bid to encourage others to join their local library.
Joseph Coelho, a poet and children’s author, will visit Pershore Library on Tuesday (August 27) at 4pm as part of his quest.
He is a huge supporter of libraries and hopes his journey across the country in his camper van will inspire more people to get out and join their local library.
“It was in my local library where I studied for exams with friends, browsed books about beach combing and imagined living by the sea, bought second-hand encyclopedias that I’d otherwise never own and where I had my first Saturday job,” he said.
“It was in my library that I got to know and connect with my local community, where I read, studied and wrote.”
Coun Lucy Hodgson, cabinet member for communities at Worcestershire County Council said: “We are thrilled to welcome Joseph to Pershore during his library marathon. “Joseph is a shining example of how important libraries can be to people’s lives.
“His journey across the UK is a fantastic celebration of library membership and we will be lucky to be able to call him a member.”
The team from Pershore Library will be on hand to greet Joseph and issue him with a Worcestershire Libraries membership card.
The challenge, supported by CILIP and Libraries connected, will see Joseph joining 70 libraries in total.
Visit www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com for more.
