You are welcome to visit any of the libraries in RBKC - click here for opening times of different branches.
Our online library of newspapers, journals, comics, books, audiobooks and much more is available to you at all times, remotely, with your library card.
The events programme continues in our libraries and online and there is a lot happening on our social media platforms too:
Virtual talk - Thursday 3 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
To mark the LGBT+ History Month we are excited to present this illustrated talk by historian Stephen Bourne who has been writing about gay culture for 25 years.
His books include Brief Encounters (1996), a survey of lesbians and gays in British cinema; the acclaimed Fighting Proud -The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served in Two World Wars (2017), which unearths the fascinating stories of the gay men who served in the armed forces and at home, and brings to light the great unheralded contribution they made to the war effort; and Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British Television (2019).
In this talk he presents an informative and engaging overview of his work as a historian of gay men’s lives.
Stephen Bourne is a writer, film and social historian specialising in black heritage and gay culture. His best-known book is Black Poppies – Britain’s Black Community and the Great War which was first published by The History Press in 2014 to coincide with the centenary of World War One. Stephen received the Southwark Arts Literature award for Black Poppies.
James Bond: Dressed to Kill with Llewella Chapman
Virtual talk - Friday 11 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli once said of James Bond: ‘Regimes may rise and fall, lapels may widen or narrow, but ultimately he remains the old-fashioned suited hero.’
Since the release of Eon Production’s first Bond film, Dr No, in 1962, the character has been tailored by Anthony Sinclair (Sean Connery), Dimitrov ‘Dimi’ Major (George Lazenby), Cyril Castle, Angelo Vittuci and Douglas ‘Doug’ Hayward (Roger Moore), Benjamin Simon and Lambert Hofer (Timothy Dalton), Brioni (Pierce Brosnan) and Tom Ford (Daniel Craig), respectively.
This talk will provide a fun tour of the London tailors who suited James Bond, and discusses where they were based, who they were, and how they assisted in the creation of the image of the eponymous suited hero who endures today.
Llewella Chapman is a film historian and visiting scholar at the University of East Anglia, completing her PhD in 2018 on the historic relationship between film, television and Hampton Court Palace.
Her research interests include British cinema, gender, heritage and costume design. Llewella's monograph, Fashioning James Bond: Costume, Gender and Identity in the world of 007, was released late last year and we were very happy to host the launch of this valuable addition to Bond research in our Central Library lecture hall - you can see the recording of that event HERE.
Folklore & Customs Festival
Fantasy February - Festival of virtual talks
Monday 14 to Monday 28 February - 6.30pm to 7.30pm
This year we again present a selection of talks inspired by our fantastic collection of books on the subjects of folklore and customs held at Kensington Central Library.
This area of human knowledge and experience can be found in libraries under the classification numbers from 390 to 399 and includes a wide range of fascinating, varied and sometimes surprising themes - you'll find books about myths and legends and folk stories from Britain and around the world, of course, from Norse myths to Arthurian legends, books of fairies and Books of Days, but also esoteric tales, discussions on etiquette or different customs related to food, births, marriages or funeral rites and much more.
Our Customs and Folklore Festival, Fantasy February, is in its 6th year and we have a great selection of events to celebrate this brilliant collection. Read on and join us!
The Folklore of Rural Crafts with Mark Norman
Virtual talk - Monday 14 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Throughout the history of civilisation, traditional crafts have been passed down from hand to skilled hand. Blacksmithing, brewing, beekeeping, baking, milling, spinning, knitting and weaving: these skills held societies together, and so too shaped their folklore and mythology.
Exploring the folklore connected with these rural crafts, this illustrated talk examines the customs, superstitions and stories woven into some of the world's oldest trades.
Mark Norman is a folklore author and researcher based in Devon, in the South West of the UK. He is the creator and host of The Folklore Podcast, ranked in the top 1% of podcasts in its genre globally with over 1.5 million downloads since its launch.
As well as the book upon which this talk is based, Telling the Bess and Other Customs, Mark is also the author of Black Dog Folklore (Troy Books, 2015), Dark Folklore (The History Press, 2021) and the forthcoming Folklore of Devon for University of Exeter Press. He is a council member of the Folklore Society and the Recorder of Folklore for the Devonshire Association.
Burn marks in historic buildings with James Wright
Virtual talk - Tuesday 15 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Have you ever noticed strange, tear-shaped scorch marks on timbers in historic buildings? Are they accidental or ritual?Find out with buildings archaeologist James Wright!
Most people tend to assume that they were left their by the unattended candles of careless occupants. Based on fieldwork survey, research and experimental archaeology this talk demonstrates that such marks are evidence of a number of ritual practices in the mediaeval and early modern periods linked to a desire to bring good luck and avert evil…
Dr James Wrightis an award-winning buildings archaeologist. James has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens.
He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period.
Adire: symbols and meaning with Kofo Adeleke
Virtual talk - Thursday 17 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
The iconography of Yoruba Adire cloth patterns from south western Nigeria is an important expression of Yoruba culture. Hundreds of identifiable patterns have passed down the generations from mother to daughter. It dates from the time when cloth was used to tell stories, convey proverbs, or send messages that were often coded.
For many decades both the methods of production of the cloth were kept secret as well as the symbolic meanings and names. More recently research has begun to reveal the methods behind Adire, as well as its role as a tool of communication and the important place it has within indigenous African textiles.
In this talk the author Kofo Adeleke focuses on Adire patterns she has encountered while researching her recently published book, A Biography of Nike, and should appeal to those interested in African art, female artists, textile history, the use of indigo, and fashion.
Kofo Adeleke is a development consultant with a focus on environmental sustainability and heritage conservation. She is an enthusiast for the deeper recognition and appreciation African history and cultural heritage, the built historical environment, and local arts and crafts. She offers insights into the interactions between art, design and the natural world and the application of indigenous knowledge.
On The Beat in Hatton Garden with Chris Foster
Virtual talk - Monday 21 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Camden Tour Guide Chris Foster presents a guided walk you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home – we'll take a stroll around the same area where Chris was a Bobby on the Beat fifty years ago.
Join him this evening for a light-hearted virtual guided walk around the historic Hatton Garden area on the banks of The River Fleet (image above).
In this engaging session, Chris mixes some riveting local history with a fair smattering of cops-and-robbers and law-and-disorder stories from the more recent past. You'll discover where Dickens drank, rivers hid and the latest 'heist of the century' took place.
Chris Fosterwas persuaded to become a tour guide in 2018 and has recently qualified as a Camden Guide. He has a love of the Kings Cross, Holborn, Bloomsbury and Hatton Garden areas where he was a Bobby on the Beat way back, some 40-50 years ago.
He has developed his own unique Alternative Kings Cross walk, which it was our pleasure to present to you virtually last year.
The archaeology of Rome with Olga Cuckovic
Virtual talk - Tuesday 22 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Rome is a huge archaeological site - have a look at the active sites in the city which are still yielding amazing truths about ancient Roman way of life and their customs and beliefs.
Let Olga take you on a leisurely stroll through the heart of historical Rome - you'll visit Forum, Palatine Hill, the ruins of the sacred area of Largo di Torre Argentina where Julius Caesar was assassinated, Trajan’s Market, Baths of Caracalla, Circus Maximus, as well as many lesser known archaeological jewels and together we'll uncover a bit about how Romans lived their lives from the ancient times to the present. We shall end with suggestions for the best museums that focus on archaeology and the description of their most famous artefacts.
Olga Cuckovic is a licensed Tour Guide of Rome and the Vatican City and has managed tours in Italy and Central Europe for over 30 years as coordinator and a guide. She specialises in private tours for families and individual custom-made itineraries.
A lover of art, she has obtained her Master’s degree in Arts Management at the American University of Rome and is fluent in several languages.
Folk horror on screen with Diane Rodgers
Virtual talk - Wednesday 23 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
The roots of horror are often firmly based in folk tales, myth and legend. Horror is indeed the stuff of folklore: unofficially recorded histories, campfire tales and urban legend. But, whilst the schlock and gore antics of villains like Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees may have folkloric origins in satanic panics and urban legends, the films in which such characters appear are not regarded as folk horror.
So, although the use of folklore is absolutely integral to folk horror narratives, conversely, not all horror is folk horror.
In this talk film historian Diane A. Rodgers explores the conventions of what we now think of as film and television folk horror, and discusses folk horror as part of a broader cultural context arising from 1970s popular culture and its continued impact on filmmakers today.
Diane A. Rodgers is Senior Lecturer in Media, Arts and Communications and co-founder of the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University. She has a background in film studies, working as a digital video editor, and playing in punk rock bands. She currently specialises in teaching alternative media, and storytelling in film and television (including cult TV, films, comics and folklore).
Diane is currently conducting PhD research in Folklore, folk horror and British Television.
At the House of the White Witch with John Callow
Virtual talk - Thursday 24 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
What happens to the witch in modernity? In the case of Marianne Voaden - a West Country cunning woman - she became a minor celebrity, the subject of two books and a novel, whose opinions were eagerly sought by folklorists. She healed and offered charms in return for charity: yet, the witch's art found fresh foes - not in the form of demonologists or the old witch hunters, but in the shape of the new poor law commissioners, the village policeman, and the parish council.
And these, for Marianne, proved just as deadly.
Join us for this fascinating talk with Dr John Callow and find out about Marianne Voaden & Witchcraft in the age of iron, industry and empire.
Dr John Callow is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Suffolk who has written widely on early modern witchcraft, politics and popular culture.
He is the author of The Last Witches of England,The Making of King James II (2000) and Embracing the Darkness: A Cultural History of Witchcraft (2005, I.B. Tauris). He has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 documentary It Must Be Witchcraft, and the series on the Salem Witches on the Discovery Channel.
Lodging in Georgian London with Gillian Williamson
Virtual talk - Monday 28 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
For all their apparent elegance of appearance, the new streets and terraces of Georgian London were, in all but the most elite locations, very densely occupied. In addition to the occupying household, their servants and apprentices, there were many men and women who lodged in one or two rooms the household could spare.
Some of these lodgers were famous, like Jonathan Swift, Lord Byron or John Keats, others more obscure. Contemporary estimates of the number of lodgers in the capital in Georgian times was around 38,000 people – more than the entire population of Norwich, England’s second city.
This talk by historian Gillian Williamson looks at how a newcomer to Georgian London found a room and what life was like in a crowded house shared with strangers who were there to subsidise the household budget.
Dr Gillian Williamson, author of British Masculinity in the Gentleman’s Magazine, 1731-1815 (Palgrave, 2016)originally read Classics at Cambridge and then worked in the City as an adviser on mergers and acquisitions, returning to university to study for an MA and then PhD in history at Birkbeck, University of London.
She has published on the eighteenth-century Gentleman’s Magazine, obituaries of women in the eighteenth century, vestry politics in the parish of St George Hanover Square and is currently researching life in lodgings in Georgian London.
This postcard from the RBKC Local Studies & Archives collections shows Francis Glibbery’s well known photograph of The Coleherne. This pub, and numerous other venues in and around Earl’s Court, holds an important place for many in the LGBTQ+ community - it was frequented by the likes of Freddy Mercury, Rudolf Nureyev and Anthony Perkins; American author Armistead Maupin included references to the Coleherne in his Tales of the City book Babycakes. It is referred to in the lyrics of Hanging Around by The Stranglers.
The Royal Borough's Local Studies & Archivesteam are working to preserve the stories of the LGBTQ+ residents (past and present) by actively collecting records of their lived experience. You can ensure that this history is not lost by sharing your stories, memories, and old photographs, and have your voices heard! Get in touch with us at: centrallocalenquiries@rbkc.gov.uk
Earl’s Court Pride 2022
There will be a pop-up Archive stall at the Earl’s Court Pride 2022 event at another of famous Earls' Court pubs, The Bolton, on Saturday 26 February at 6pm - book your place now!
The Controlling Idea - learning from stories 2: GOT
Virtual books&films discussion- Monday 7 February, 6.30pm to 7.30pm
In this series of talks, publisher Katie Isbester and her daughter Teddy, a film buff, discuss the central idea of some of the greatest stories told. Each session will grapple with the big issue embedded in the story, and compare how the book and film treat this central idea. This time we look at Game of Thrones and discuss: Is War Justified? with guest Denis MacShane.
Hosts: Katie Isbester, PhD, is the publisher of Claret Press, an indie publishing houses specialising in stories that deal with politics, issues and places. Originally from Canada, she left her academic career at University of Toronto for England.
Teddy 't Hooft, aged 20, is a student at university, doing an arts undergraduate degree. She loves films and TV series. She has her own opinions.
Guest: Denis MacShane, the former Minister of State for Europe, was an MP who voted for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and regretted it since.
Basic IT-Help with Volunteer in Central Library
Saturdays starting in March
10am to 12 noon
Do you need help doing basics on the computer like opening an email address, filling forms or starting a social media account? Are you looking to learn how to book holidays or shop online?
Our IT-Help volunteer sessions will resume next month with a new volunteer, Simon.
City of Stories Home writing workshop
Virtual writing workshop - Tuesday 8 February, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Take this opportunity to be creative, craft your writing, and explore the theme of 'Home' in short stories - this is a perfect workshop for people who want to give writing a go and for those already writing.
Workshop participants from London will get a chance to enter their short stories to the City of Stories Home competition. Winners will be published in the City of Stories Home Anthology, take part in a StoryLab masterclass and read their work at events in their local library in June 2022.
About the workshop leader:
Jemilea Wisdom-Baako is a British-Jamaican poet. A London Writers Award recipient she was shortlisted for the Rebecca Swift Women's Poetry Prize and The Bridport Poetry Prize. She runs the arts company Writerz and Scribez CIC and is currently working on her first pamphlet.
The Chelsea Library reading group is a friendly relaxed reading group who meet once per month. We read new and prize listed fiction but will read anything suggested by group members. In February we will be discussing No One Is Talking About Thisby Patricia Lockwood, which was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and Women's Prize for Fiction.
You do not need to book to join us in person - just pop in! To join us on Microsoft Teams, please book below.
Why not join us for a cup of tea or coffee, a slice of cake and a nice helping of conversation in the friendly library atmosphere?
Come along for some treats and a chat with others in our local community. It is free and there is no need to book, just pop into North Kensington Library.
Writing a winning CV - National Careers Service
Virtual careers advice workshop
Tuesday 22 February, 2pm to 3pm
How confident are you about your CV? Will it support you to get the job you want?
The library has teamed up with the National Careers Service (NCS) to bring you a series of online workshops to help you get that job!
In this webinar, we'll talk about the all-important Curriculum Vitae - CV for short.
It is the first thing a prospective employer will see of you and you'll get selected or refused an interview on the strength or weakness of your CV.
This webinar will cover how you can improve your CV by tailoring and highlighting your skills, knowledge and experience.
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.
Virtual session for children - Saturday 5 February, 11 am to 12 noon
Join us on a magical journey at our special Harry Potter Chatterbooks.
We will be reading from various Harry Potter books and sharing comments of our favourite magical means of transport – whether you prefer Hogwarts Express, Ron’s Ford Anglia, Harry’s Firebolt or Nimbus 2000, the Floo Network or a Portkey… Perhaps you would love to fly on Buckbeak!?
Come along and bring your Harry Potter books and your wands and dress up in your wizarding or muggle clothes!
Join us for Baby Rhyme Time at Kensington Central Library. We will be singing songs old and new, and we' like you to join us too... We hope to see you all there!
This is a free event but places are limited and if busy we may have to restrict numbers - arrive early to avoid disappointment!
The Tailor & Cutter on display in Chelsea Library in February
‘The Tailor and Cutter’ was a weekly trade journal for the tailoring business. It ran from 1866 to 1972. Chelsea Library have volumes from the 1950s through to 1970s in the Fashion and Costume Collection.
‘The Tailor’ was first published in Scotland by John Williamson in 1866. It championed better working conditions for tailoring crafts men and women and provided technical information and trade news in an informal style. Williamson wrote in 1869 ‘Our mission is to put a superior class of literature dealing with the science and art of the trade into the hands of every tailor’.
Williamson later relocated to London and launched a second journal ‘The Cutter’ and soon after merged the two to create ‘The Tailor and Cutter’ which by 1930 had become the most successful trade journal in the world even featuring on the cover of Beatrix Potter’s ‘The Tailor of Gloucester’. But by the 1970s the British tailoring trade had dwindled due to mass produced ready-to-wear and circulation numbers dropped off and the journal ceased publication in 1972.
The journal is an amazing archive, in particular for men’s fashion, almost forensic in its detail. But there are also irreverent discussions about the size of men’s ties in the 70s and even a satirical Q&A with George Bernard Shaw in the 1946 Christmas edition on the state of Soviet fashion and whether prison dress should be reformed.
Well worth taking a look! Text: Nadia Wallis
Survey on arts and cultural events
at North Kensington Library
Survey - open until 6 February
The Council’s Libraries team wants to hear from residents about the kind of arts and cultural events they want to see more of at North Kensington Library. Findings from the survey will help us make sure that the events we’re organising are of interest to local people, and that they cover topics and activities you’re interested in.
The survey is open until Sunday 6 February and should only take a few minutes to complete. You can find the survey HERE.
Thank you to everyone who takes the time to share their views with us.
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.
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
Message from the Council
Help us build a more sustainable borough
We need your views on the actions the council and our partners can take to boost nature, improve air quality and become a carbon neutral borough.
Have your say in our online surveyor come along to the two events we have for you in February. These will be interactive sessions to offer residents the chance to share ideas and comments on the action plans, and views on how we can collectively act on climate change within our borough.
Big Institutions/Businesses Online Event:Tuesday 1 February, 3.30pm to 5pm. Please follow the registration link to book. This event is aimed at museums, theatres, universities, NHS, public organisations, schools, landowners, hospitals, businesses etc.
Residents/Community Online Event: Monday 7 February, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Please follow the registration link to book. This event is aimed at residents, community groups, residents’ associations and voluntary sector.
