You are invited to take part in a series of open workshops to discuss the future growth of the National Poetry Library.

The question we are exploring is: How can we work together to sustain the growth of the National Poetry Library for the future? The purpose of these workshops is to gather valuable input from the poetry community which will then form a series of recommendations that Southbank Centre can take forward.

We recently suspended our plans to introduce a new enhanced level of National Poetry Library membership, which was intended to help us generate much-needed income to help us support UK poetry now and in the future and grow the library as an asset for the poetry community. The announcement of the membership generated lots of feedback and some criticism, and we have listened to this.

As a result we’d like you to come and share your ideas about how to support the future of the National Poetry Library at Southbank Centre. 

We hope these workshops will help us find a way to maintain the widest possible access to the poetry collection while at the same time acknowledging the need to raise funds to grow the library. It is vital that we have input from a cross-section of the poetry community and hope that you can join us to give your voice to the discussion.

There is a three-hour Open Space event on Thursday 17 October to gather thoughts, ideas and recommendations on the way forward for the National Poetry Library.

This is followed by two one-hour workshops, one on Wednesday 6 November and one on Thursday 14 November, to explore the key recommendations that emerge from the Open Space.

Book your place