Bookends Book Festival - Bridging the Gap

Bookends Book Festival - Bridging the Gap

Bookends book festival has run successfully as an annual event for two years. Participants and attendees are encouraging us to expand activities in terms of frequency of events and range of activities offered. These inter-generational events offer a safe space, reduce social isolation and encourage the sharing of skills and knowledge.

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So far events include book swaps, author visits, story telling, theatre, new skills experiences and opportunities for shared intergenerational contact.

There's no point in organising brilliant events if you can't have fun doing it!

To see what Bookends2017 was all about, please visit our site http://www.bookends.scot/index.asp

Does it run as a on-off event?

Watch the opening of Bookends 2017 with author Kenneth Steven on YouTube https://youtu.be/9haUCQJQ9hw

Bookends runs during the last week in September and the fringe for a further week AND we have pop-up events too, last year we had a day long event in Taynuilt Village Hall and we have a monthly Bookends days in Benderloch at the moment...hoping to make them more frequent.

Local school children and children from nurseries make great use of Bookends Pop-up days. They come to find new titles to read, share a story with an older or younger reading buddy or hear a story from an adult. Then they bring parents and carers after school to share books and stories with them too. We have several parents and grandparents who return time and again with young children because it is such a welcoming space which all generations can share.

The Bookends Book Festivals and the Taynuilt Pop-up event have been inspirational to me and, judging by the level of attendance, to many others too. The planned Pop-ups will widen the Bookends to more villages to enable everyone, young and old, to mingle and learn.

It’s been great to see how many people came along to the Bookends Festival “Reading room” in the Victory Hall, Benderloch just to browse through the many donated books. Some folk returned almost daily to find fresh books to take home!

Great conversations and word-smithery for all- young and old alike. Such a welcoming venue and event. More events , storytelling, games nights would hearten the community , strengthen sense of citizenship. The times right to celebrate new and old, host awards for reading , writing and spoken word- run pop up events here and near.

A surprising side effect of starting this Book Festival has been the lovely space that has been created in Bender loch for the community. Everyone who comes through the door feels the welcoming relaxed atmosphere. All ages, colours and creeds can share in a chat and a cup of tea or just sit and enjoy. It would be wonderful if the benefit could be extended beyond the 2 weeks of the festival to enable the space to be open regularly for the extended community to use.

The 2 Bookends festivals held so far have been everything a community project should be--using community facilities to make a wonderful, welcoming and inspriational space for young and old to enjoy and explore books, and with speakers and entertainers of a wide variety as well . The "Fringe" actiivites have been wide and varied too, with films on ecologial matters and sessions on various things from sewing to board games. It's so good for a community to share interests and ideas in this way.

Bookends is SO much more than a book festival. As well as all the book festival things like author talks it provides a fantastic safe, welcoming space in which people can come together, chat, spend time in an easy and relaxed way. It's easy to turn up to an afternoon on your own and there will always be someone there to offer a cup of tea and to chat if you want to, and if not it is a lovely space in which to spend time sitting/browsing through all the donated books. Highly recommend going along

The relaxed and welcoming atmosphere at the reading room pop-up sessions (helped by the comfy seating) makes a super change from the hassles of everyday life. Let’s help this continue!

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