Creating Worlds at Mountsorrel Library
Project Aims and Background
For the first time our Arts Council England funded Creative Expression in Libraries programme is taking place in one of Leicestershire’s independent community managed libraries. Mountsorrel Library is run by Mountsorrel Parish Council and supported by a dedicated team of volunteers and one of Culture Leicestershire’s Community Managed Libraries Support Officers. The library is a vibrant community hub and they were keen to connect with their local primary school, which is a key aim of this project.
We wanted to co-create an artistic output with children from the local school that would enhance the library and encourage children to visit. Through the project a relationship between the school and library would be developed leading to ongoing school visits to the library.
The new management at Christ Church and St Peter’s CofE Primary School, Mountsorrel have been enthusiastic partners from the start. Not only are they keen to engage with all the library has to offer, but they also supported the process of selecting a creative practitioner to work with the children.
After a competitive selection process, we appointed Paper Rhino who proposed creating a story board with characters – all designed by the children – which could be used to tell stories, in imaginative play and interactive story sessions. The wooden story board will have story worlds, designed by the children, painted on it and be portable, allowing library volunteers to move it about and even use it for visits outside the library.
Workshops
Our workshops kicked off with Year 3 on one of the hottest days of the year. They showed amazing imagination and flare in designing characters and worlds, using monster dice to spark imagination and special pens to bring colour to their characters. Everything was included; dragon pits, princesses, holes that can eat you and even a world religion!
The next week Year 5 joined us and painted the boards that will be used. They followed designs from Year 3 and their painting will be transposed onto the pegboard our artist, Amanda will use for the finished storyboard.
All our workshops were ably supported by the library’s volunteers who run regular children’s activities and brought a wealth of skills and expertise.
Over the summer Amanda from Paper Rhino will transform the children’s art and ideas into a story board with moveable characters children can play with. The finished artwork will be installed in September 2026. Watch this space…
To find about more about this project please email helen.murray@leics.gov.uk
About Mountsorrel Library
Mountsorrel Library is a Community Managed Library (CML), run by Mountsorrel Parish Council and supported by a dedicated team of volunteers. The library plays a vital role in the community, offering access to books, learning opportunities and creative activities, and is committed to providing welcoming, inclusive experiences for children and young people.
Click here for more about Mountsorrel Library