Edinburgh Napier University will hold the Scottish premiere of a new feature-length documentary, Guilty Pleasures, on Monday 14 February at 7.30pm - 9.30pm at the Craiglockhart Campus.
The film looks in a light-hearted manner at the authors, publishers, models and readers of Mills and Boon fiction. This is the University's second charity premiere after the successful showing of The Hollywood Librarian two years ago.
The event is in aid of Book Aid International. Admission is free but a voluntary collection will be taken.
For further information, or to reserve a place, please email f.hartree@napier.ac.uk.
Added: 26 Jan
Liz Lochhead has been named as Scotlands National Poet at a special event at the National Library of Scotland. She succeeds her friend Edwin Morgan, who held the post from 2004 until his death in August 2010.
Liz Lochhead said: I am as delighted as I am surprised by this enormous honour, which I do know I don't deserve! Nevertheless, I accept it on behalf of poetry itself, which is, and always has been, the core of our culture, and in grateful recognition of the truth that poetry -- the reading of it, the writing of it, the saying it out loud, the learning of it off by heart -- matters deeply to ordinary Scottish people everywhere.
As she wrote when accepting the post of Poet Laureate for Glasgow,
All praise to poetry, the way it has
of attaching itself to a familiar phrase
in a new way, insisting it be heard and seen.
Poets need no laurels, surely?
their poems, when they can make them happen -- even rarely --
crown them with green.
Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, says: "Liz Lochhead is a splendid choice as the second National Poet for Scotland, with a large and affectionate following here, delighting audiences wherever she goes. Her work runs the gamut from classical to cabaret, while retaining its Scottish accent. As she is Honorary President of the Scottish Poetry Library, we are particularly pleased that her new post will enable us to work more closely with her over the next five years."
Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy said: "I am filled with professional, poetic and personal joy to hear today that Liz Lochhead is Scotlands new Makar. Since her early work in the 1970s, she has been an inspirational presence in British poetry funny, feisty, female, full of feeling; a fantastic performer of her work and a writer who has tirelessly brought poetry to the drama and drama into poetry.
"Like her wonderful predecessor and pal, Edwin Morgan, Liz Lochhead possesses the deeply Scottish qualities of independence, inquisitiveness and inventiveness. Its sad that Liz's beloved husband, Tom, is not here to see her appointment as Makar, but all of us in the poetry world will be right behind her in this fabulous, fresh new chapter in her writing life."
The National Poet for Scotland was chosen by the First Minister and two previous First Ministers, Lord McConnell and Henry McLeish, at a meeting last week, with advice provided by a literary panel chaired by Dr Marsack.
The National Poet can be contacted by email through the Scottish Poetry Library: national poet@spl.org.uk.
Added: 24 Jan
With public libraries in Scotland attracting over 30 million visitors per year and academic libraries attracting 12.8 million, the Scottish Library and Information Council acknowledged the achievements of eighteen libraries for their commitment to providing high quality services, at the inaugural Scottish Library Excellence Awards on Tuesday 18 January.
Libraries from across Scotland received awards at an award ceremony presented by Chair of the SLIC board, Christine May which took place at the Scottish Parliament last night.
The awards were made following the publication of the latest round of Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix (PLQIM) reports, a peer-reviewed self-evaluation tool where services are rated on a six-point scale to identify key strengths and weaknesses. The results of which are used to inform the development of an action plan for improvement, to ensure that public libraries provide the services that local people require.
Dumfries and Galloway and East Renfrewshire achieved overall ratings of excellent, with a further thirteen achieving very good ratings for service provision. Awards were also made for Innovation, Shared Services and Services to Users.
Commenting on the awards, Minister for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said: "Scotland's public libraries are a valuable community resource, providing access to knowledge, learning and culture. They can be enjoyed by everyone and provide a diverse range of services - from reading for pleasure to education courses to wi-fi access - which can have a positive impact on the cultural health of the community.
"These awards recognise excellence in Scotland's libraries and acknowledge the hard work of those involved in reaching such a high standard. I would like to offer my congratulations to all of the award winners."
Elaine Fulton, Director of the Scottish Library and Information Council added: “The provision of library services is crucial to ensure that people have the support they need to develop their skills, realise their aspirations and contribute to the economic growth and well-being of the country.
“At a time when services are under scrutiny because of the pressures on public finances, it is important that we celebrate the value they add to communities and individuals.
“These awards demonstrate the commitment of library staff to delivering new, high quality, innovative services to ensure that communities have access to the information and advice that they need.”
Added: 19 Jan
Popular children’s author Mary Hoffman has written an impassioned plea to East Ayrshire Council in a bid to influence their decision on proposals to reduce the number of qualified librarians working in the Authority’s secondary schools.
The current proposals would see the nine current qualified school librarian posts in East Ayrshire’s secondary schools cut back to two chartered librarians and seven library assistants.
In her letter to the Council Ms Hoffman wrote: “I do appreciate that this is a difficult time in both local and national government but I also believe passionately that reducing the number or quality of services that libraries and librarians offer to school students is not the answer.”
She added: “School students need motivating to read and who better to provide the stimulus than a fully-qualified librarian who is up to date with the very best books published for teenagers, fiction and non-fiction, out of the 12,000 or so published each year? Someone fully dedicated to books in an age of many other competing forms of entertainment and information is a priceless asset to any school.”
The letter concludes: “I beg you to re-think this decision, which will do so much harm, not only to highly qualified staff who must lose their jobs or be downgraded, but to the students who benefit from their services. Down south we have learned to be in awe of Scottish standards of education and civilisation – don’t let us down.”
Ms Hoffman, who has a history of supporting libraries and literacy projects, is the author of more than 90 fiction and non-fiction books, including the popular Stravaganza series.
There is an ongoing consultation as regards the East Ayrshire proposals and the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) are in discussion with staff within the Authority and will make official responses to the consultation in due course.
Added: 12 Jan
Two crime authors dominated the fiction borrowed from Shetland Library during 2010. The most-borrowed book was Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves, closely followed by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. The other books in Ann Cleeves’ Shetland quartet and Stieg Larsson’s Swedish trilogy took the next five places, meaning that the top seven places in the ranking were all Cleeves and Larsson.
The two top non-fiction loans were biographies, by Frankie Boyle and Dawn French. Other celebrity biographies were also popular.
Top of the children’s fiction was a local book – The Grumpy Old Sailor by Janice Armstrong and Meilo So. This new publication triumphed over perennial favourites Garfield, Where’s Wally, Jacqueline Wilson and the Mr Men.
There was a strong local showing in the music section too – the top CD was by Aly Bain, while Fiddlers’ Bid, Tom Anderson and Brian Gear also mixed it in the top twelve with the likes of Lady Gaga and Paolo Nutini.
The top-lending talking book was also a local publication – Slyde in the Right Direction, the memoir by Chrissie Sandison which was published in January 2010 by the Soond o’Shetland charity. The charity is soon to publish more Shetland talking books, to be available exclusively through the Library. Another very popular talking book was Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton, a thriller set in Shetland.
In the Shetland book section itself, the most-borrowed book was Laurence Tulloch’s On the Rocks: A Lightkeeper’s Tale. Also very popular were Noo Dan! by Douglas C. Smith, Simon King’s Shetland Diaries, Aald Papa, I’m Dine! by George P.S. Peterson, and A Pictorial ‘Daander Trowe’ Shetland’s Crofting Culture.
Councillor Gussie Angus, Chairman of Services Committee said: "It is splendid to see so many local writers and musicians up there amongst international figures."
Added: 7 Jan
The January edition of the Edinburgh Library and Information Services Agency (ELISA) newsletter, TACIT, is now available to download (PDF).
The newsletter features details of proposed cuts to school libraries in Edinburgh as well as a feature on The Shore Poets' monthly poetry and music events in Edinburgh.
ELISA acts as a network for all library and information professionals based in Edinburgh.
Added: 7 Jan
Scotland's Information
Research Collections Online
Scottish Library and Information Resources
Scottish Distributed Digital Library
Scottish Collections Network
Co-operative Information Retrieval Network for Scotland
© Send comments, suggestions and queries about SLAINTE to Gillian Hanlon. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 UK: Scotland License 01-Dec-2011
