Children taking part in the Right Royal Read

Libraries join together for a 'Right Royal Read'

As the country looks forward to its extended Bank Holiday weekend to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrations have already begun at libraries across the county and beyond.   
Yesterday (26 May), school and nursery children from the north of Northumberland all the way down to Redcar and Cleveland flocked to their local libraries to take part in the ‘Right Royal Read’ - a synchronised storytelling of popular children’s book ‘The Queen’s Handbag’ by Steve Antony. 
 
The event was the brainchild of the region’s 12 chief librarians – one from each local authority area – who wanted to mark Her Majesty’s impressive milestone with something that even the youngest library users could enjoy. 
 
The author himself, Steve Antony, got involved by hosting a virtual session for children in Gateshead as well as arranging some special craft-based activities for children to participate in as part of the event.  
 
In Northumberland, more than half of the county’s libraries took part with sessions in Allendale, Alnwick, Amble, Ashington, Bedlington, Bellingham, Berwick, Blyth, Cramlington, Haltwhistle, Hexham, Morpeth, Newbiggin, Ponteland, Prudhoe, Rothbury, Wylam and Wooler welcoming almost 400 children between them. 
 
Each school or nursery group who took part also received a free copy of ‘The Queen’s Handbag’ for their setting, funded by Arts Council England.
 
“It has been wonderful to work together with library colleagues across the region to help bring this very special event to life for the Queen’s Jubilee,” said Councillor Jeff Watson, Cabinet Member for Healthy Lives at Northumberland County Council.   
“Libraries play such an important role in our local communities, helping to bring people of all ages and backgrounds together through a shared love for reading and learning. Being able therefore to extend this sense of community spirit all across the North East as children shared in this joint experience in honour of Her Majesty was absolutely fantastic.” 
 
Northumberland Libraries has received an additional £1,000 in external funding from Arts Council England to support further events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  
 
For more information and to view the full itinerary, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/the-queens-platinum-jubilee-celebration-events-341339 
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