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Happy New Year!
 From all of us in the Library Service
RBKC is in Tear 4 - click HERE for all the updates about what this means for the Library Service in Kensington and Chelsea.
 We are back to offering select&collect and essential computer use only in the three library branches open at the moment - Chelsea, Kensington Central and North Kensington libraries.
But our online library of books, newspapers, magazines, comics, audiobooks, dictionaries, language-learning platform and more is available to you at all times, remotely, with just your library card.
We are continuing to provide a full programme of online events too!
Join us for talks, workshops and book clubs, as well as a boosted virtual offer for children and adults on our social media platforms.
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Gallery Borghese - illustrated tour with Olga
Virtual gallery tour
Wednesday 13 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Here's your chance to peek into the sensational Gallery Borghese, considered by many to be the most beautiful museum in Italy.
In this talk, beautifully illustrated by her own photographs, Olga will guide us through the history of the collection and take us on a tour of rooms full of paintings, statues and painted ceilings, revealing backstories of the most famous pieces and the delicious bits of gossip that help keep the stories of these remarkable artworks alive for future generations.
About the speaker:
Olga Cuckovic started working as a tour guide in her home-town of Dubrovnik, Croatia when she was 18, but has lived and worked in Rome for the last thirty years.
Olga is a certified tour guide of Rome and Vatican City and has worked with some of the biggest luxury travel companies from USA and Europe. A lover of art herself, she obtained a Master’s degree in Arts Management at the American University of Rome last year.
Olga is returning in February with her enchanting Torlonia Marbles Uncovered.
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*Please note that the recording of this talk will NOT be available after the event.
'Weren't Born a Man' with Dana Gillespie
Book launch and author talk
Monday 18 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
On the very day her book is published, the award-winning first lady of the Blues and South Kensington resident Dana Gillespie will be recounting stories from her memoir, Weren't Born a Man.
Dana will talk about her friendships with David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Keith Moon and the cream of 1960s rock royalty. There'll be singing the Blues with Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood – and Princess Margaret – and performing to an audience of one million people in India.
She'll tell us about appearing in movies with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and other British comedy greats. Or how about recording with Jimmy Page and Elton John or performing as Mary Magdalene in the original London production of Jesus Christ Superstar?
This illustrated talk will feature many never-before-seen photographs from her personal archive.
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About the speaker:
Actress, singer and songwriter Dana Gillespie has made over 70 albums, performed in concerts around the world, and appeared in 14 feature films and several West End musicals.
Her memoir shows her experiencing first-hand the change in how we perceived life after the revolution of the 60s. In the 70s, her basement flat (named 'the bunker' by David Bowie’s then wife Angie) was the meeting point for the great and the good of the British pop, rock and movie scene.
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Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant
 Film Talk
Wednesday 20 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant must have seemed like unlikely collaborators when they first met in 1939, but the macabre ‘master of suspense’ and the debonair star of screwball comedies enriched each other’s work immeasurably.
They also became close friends and, late in his life, Hitchcock confided to a friend that Grant was “the only actor I ever loved”.
Drawing on the personal papers of both the star and the director, this illustrated talk explores the remarkable personal and professional relationship that endured for decades and resulted in four classic films: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).
About the speaker:
Mark Glancy is Reader in Film at Queen Mary University of London.
His most recent book is Cary Grant: The Making of a Hollywood Legend (Oxford University Press, 2020).
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Prose and Politics with Julie Anderson
 Author Talk
Monday 25 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Political stories have a gripping relevance and political storytelling deepens our understanding of our world, highlighting issues and exploring trends and ideas.
Engaging political prose explains our reality while simultaneously entertaining us. Words from political prose have entered our language because they so accurately describe our reality: Big Brother, Catch-22, Brave New World, Kafkaesque.
Our guest, the author Julie Anderson, discusses the future of the 'political novel' and the 'novel about politics' (which are not, of course, necessarily the same thing) in the twenty first century.
About the speaker:
Julie Anderson is a writer and author who had a long career as a senior Whitehall civil servant, working for a variety of government departments and agencies, including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Her novel, Plague (Claret Press, September 2020), is the first in a thriller series featuring a female investigator. The second, Oracle, is scheduled for publication in March 2021 and the third, Opera, in 2022.
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Mediaeval building myths with James Wright
The folklore & archaeology of historic buildings talk
Tuesday 26 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Historic buildings specialists often meet folk who are eager to talk about their properties and their enthusiasm is genuinely infectious. We can learn so much of value about a society by what it builds.
However, romanticised and elaborated stories often grow up around certain mysterious features in mediaeval buildings – secret passages, ship timbers and swordsmen fighting on spiral staircases. It is surprising how often these get repeated all across the country and at so many different structures.
In this talk award-winning buildings archaeologist, James Wright, will outline the legends, look at the origins of the stories and reveal the underlying truths behind the tales.
About the speaker:
James Wright is buildings archaeologist with two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens.
We shall be hosting James in February again for the second part of this brilliant medieval myth-busting talk, "Medieval Building Myths - This inn is made from shipwreck timbers!"
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The Short Story Supper Club with Racontesse
Short Stories explored in 6 half-hour sessions
Racontesse is on a mission to convince you how utterly fabulous short stories are – one exquisite story at a time!
Each of the Short Story Supper Clubs will explore a different tale: tragic, twisted or funny to prove that a delicious nibble can be every bit as satisfying as a feast. We shall look at how and why each story works and marvel at the author who created it.
We start with
Still, Standing in the Woods...
Wednesday 27 January 7.30pm to 8pm
Our first story is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. First published by The New Yorker in 1948, The Lottery established Jackson as a master of the dark tale. Set in rural America, it depicts the life of a small farming community; rituals repeat, the seasons change; life is mundane, stagnant and... horrific. This story cannot fail to shock.
Racontesse will demonstrate for you how Jackson excels at revealing the sinister underbelly of every day life.
 About the speakers:
Racontesse is Sarah Gray and Josephine Rydberg. They have been friends and collaborators for nearly 25 years after meeting whilst working at the same TV production company. Together they have made three short films and have developed numerous cross media projects. Stories are at the heart of everything they do.
The stories they chose for this Short Story Supper Club burrow deep into all facets of human experience, the dark and light, the strange, uncanny and unexplained.
Illustrations by Alodie Fielding: thecrookedstyle.com
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Max Steiner and the creation of the Hollywood Sound
Film music talk
Friday 29 January, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Discover the untold story of the pioneering composer whose scores for Bogart, Bergman, Bette Davis and others paved the way for modern film music.
In a career spanning 19th-century Vienna to 1920s Broadway to the golden age of Hollywood, Max Steiner did more than any other composer to create the sound and style of film music. Today’s composers still use the techniques he pioneered in his scores for Casablanca, King Kong, Gone with the Wind, Mildred Pierce and over 200 other titles.
About the speaker:
Producer, director and author Steven C. Smith is a four-time Emmy nominee and 16-time Telly Award winner. He has created over 200 long-form documentaries for various media, and has worked with such filmmakers as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Robert Redford, among others.
He is the author of two acclaimed biographies, Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer, and A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann. He lives in Los Angeles.
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Writing Hour(s) with author Joy Rhoades
Monday 18 January
6pm to 7pm / 8pm
Want to write but having difficulty finding focus? Then join other creative writers once a month, for an hour (or two) of silent focused writing. The coordinator, writer and writing teacher Joy Rhoades, will provide a short introduction, which will be followed by 40 minutes of silent writing.
Joy will provide a writing prompt too, for those who wish to try a writing exercise.The writing session will end with volunteers reading a few lines of their work and with a check in to see how writers fared with their time.
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Chelsea Library Reading Group
Thursday 21 January
6.30pm to 7.30pm
Join Chelsea Library for our monthly book reading group.
The Chelsea Library reading group is a friendly relaxed reading group meeting once per month.
We read mostly modern and contemporary fiction but will read anything suggested by group members.
Our January book is The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld.
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Happy Money - Self-Help Book Club
Saturday 23 January
10am to 12 noon
Self-help books are some of the most popular and most borrowed books of all genres. People love to read about how they can improve their health, their attitudes and their lives in general. Many people read self-improvement books, but how many actually attempt to put some of what they've read into practice?
The Self-Help Book Club aims to do just that - help you help yourself by discussing ways in which theory can be put into practice.
It is led by Andrea and Ines, qualifield NLP practitioners, and the sessions take place once per month, on designated Saturdays.
We are reading... - Happy Money: the Japanese art of making peace with your money” by Ken Honda
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Learn a language
 Get unlimited access to more than 120 languages, with lessons and course materials designed to build listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
Transparent Language Online is packed with pronunciation practice, speech analysis, grammar, writing activities, and vocabulary-building activities.
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Chelsea Chatterbooks
Saturday 23 January, 11am to 12 noon
Take part in our Virtual Chatterbooks session!
We are reading Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter.
It is a poignant story of two boys, friends living in the same house. They are the same age, one is German and one Jewish. We can see how the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany affected them both.
Hans Peter Richter wrote his novel in the style of a memoir. It is about two German families who live in the same apartment house. It is the story of friendship of the non-Jewish narrator and his Jewish neighbours.
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Book of the Week
Join the library team for a virtual discussion about The Book of The Week!
You do not need to have read the book to join the discussion, but be prepared, you may hear some spoilers!
This January we will be discussing the following books:
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - 8 January
Good Girl, Bad Girl by MW Craven - 15 January
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - 22 January
COSTA winner - TBA - 29 January
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Bumblebear Story and Craft
 Saturday 9 January
11am to 12 noon
Norman the bear loves honey. To get close to the source he disguises himself as a bee. Imagine that!
To celebrate this fantastic story, staff from our libraries have created a special Bumblebear craft for you to follow at home in this special live event.
Join us for a reading of The Bumblebear written by Nadia Shireen and a live demonstration on how you can become a bumblebear yourself!
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A new chapter for Kensal Library
 Public consultation
The Council is looking at how Kensal Library can provide additional services and support to residents once it reopens.
In an upcoming consultation, we shall be asking residents about how they use the library and what additional services might increase how often they use it.
The consultation will launch on Monday 11 January and will be open to submissions from all those who live in the area and use the library.
You'll have until Monday 22 February to tell us your views.
The consultation will be available on the Council's consultation portal and will be promoted on the libraries’ social media closer to the time, so look out for it and have your say!
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News from us! - Online payments
Do you have any library charges to pay?
These can now be paid online with a debit or credit card.
Log into your account via our catalogue, click the Pay Selected button in the Charges tab.
A receipt will then be emailed to you.
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Have a question?
 Email us
You may not be able to pop in in person, but you can still ask a team of librarians anything you want through our email enquiry service.
Just email your query to libraries@rbkc.gov.uk and we'll do our best to help.
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Need a chat?
 Phone us
There is a customer service phoneline if you want to speak to us about book recommendations, service queries or additional support.
Just call 020 7361 3993
Monday to Friday - 9am to 5pm
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Mayor’s Awards 2020-21: Nominations open
Do you know someone who has made a significant difference to the lives of RBKC residents? Someone who has gone over and above in their work, paid or voluntary, to serve the community?
If so, you can nominate them for a Mayor’s Award.
This year you can nominate someone you know in one of four categories: Individual Contribution; Young Person; Local Community Organisation; Coronavirus Response
Click HERE for more information and to make your nomination.
Nominations for this year’s Mayor’s Awards are open until Sunday 31 January.
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