Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

A Tale of Two Libraries – with Portico Library and WCML

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor

9 June 2021 Entrance is free — Visit now

Manchester is home to the world’s oldest English language library and has a long history of valuing, inspiring and collecting texts of seminal cultural importance. As a result of this literary tradition the cities of Manchester and Salford are spoilt for choice when it comes to specialist and very special libraries. Two such institutions will be joining forces to explore each others archives in an effort to find links between their bountiful archives. Learn alongside the librarians with A Tale of Two Libraries.

The Working Class Movement Library is holding a joint event with the Portico Library as part of Manchester’s inaugural Festival of Libraries, co-ordinated by Manchester City of Literature. The online talk is part of a series (but takes place slightly earlier) of Wednesday live-streamed talks, check their website for more details.

Find out what happened when staff from these two institutions swapped places for a day and got a chance to dig around and find connections between the two very different libraries.

A Tale of Two Libraries will be presented from the Portico Library’s beautiful Georgian Reading Room by Lynette Cawthra from Salford’s WCML, with contributions by the Portico’s James Moss and Apapat Jai-in Glynn, and by WCML’s Lindsey Cole. It will also be recorded for later viewing on the WCML YouTube channel.

Join-up details will be available on 9 June.

#FestivalofLibraries

9 June 2021 Entrance is free Visit now

Where to go near A Tale of Two Libraries – with Portico Library and WCML

Church congregation at St George's Church in Leeds
Leeds
Place of worship
St George’s Church

St George’s is a lively city centre church in Leeds with three services every Sunday and a midweek programme that includes groups, courses and events. We’re here to help people

Picante
Liverpool
Restaurant
Picante

Picante is a sun-soaked Mexican restaurant at the trailblazing Cains Brewery Village in Liverpool.

Miru Mill
Manchester
Event venue
Miru Mill

Miru Mill is an event space and micro-factory based at Churchgate Mill in Stockport.

Spa
iglu sauna

An authentic and affordable sauna and cold plunge experience in Hebden Bridge, in a beautiful outdoor setting amongst the trees. Book a regular session for £12 per person, or find…

Salford
Restaurant
Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar

Kallos is a Greek restaurant and wine bar in Salford, serving up exquisite dishes throughout the day and evening.

Symmetry Room
City Centre
Museum
Museum of Illusions

Museum of Illusions Manchester is part of the global Museum of Illusions Group, the largest and fastest-growing chain of private museums in the world.

Tropical World logo
Leeds
Tourist Attraction
Tropical World

At Tropical World, families can enjoy a fun-filled and educational day out. Start your epic journey in the Butterfly House, where exotic butterflies fly freely through our swampy mangrove, fluttering

Manchester
Restaurant
Soap Street Pizza

Based at Nordie in Levenshulme, Soap Street Pizza put out the perfect pie: crispy base and inspired toppings.

See all places

What's on: Activity

Rock and Goal
Until
ActivityManchester
Rock and Goal Tour

Join Joe Feeley a Mancunian through and through, who guides you into Manchester’s two pillars of cultural excellence with his Rock and Goal tour.

from £9.99
Craft Beer Tour Around Manchester
Until
ActivityManchester
Craft Beer Tour Manchester

Join Craft Beer Tour Manchester for a journey through some of the cities best local breweries and artisanal beer serving bars. Discover the personality of Manchester’s beer through a diverse range of pints.

from £35
Until
ActivityManchester
Floating Art Workshops

Join expert teacher Ula for relaxed painting workshops that will have you creating work you can be proud of, no matter your level of artistic experience.

from £24.30

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.

See all guides