Nottingham Central Library

27/08/2026

✉️Library Letter pals, today is postage day!

📮We’re emptying our post box of replies and shipping it off to Mystic & Noank Library .

👀Keep your eye on our socials to find out when the replies have arrived!’

21/08/2026

🎺 Live Music at Nottingham Central Library 🎺

Looking for something different to do this September?

Join us for a special evening with the nationally acclaimed Carlton Brass as part of our Sound at Central series. Enjoy live brass music in the Nottingham Central Library's atrium, alongside stories celebrating the history of brass bands.

The evening also marks the launch of The Brass Band Story by Professor Trevor Herbert, with copies available to buy on the night.

Thursday 17 September, doors open 6.30pm, starts 7pm
Nottingham Central Library
🎟️ Tickets £10

Book now and experience a unique night of live music in the heart of the city.

www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/brass-band-story

Discover events, books, eResources, and community services at Nottingham City Libraries.

20/08/2026

✉️We've had a delivery!

📮It is new letter day here today, anyone that is taking part in our Library Letters Project please pop by as we might have a reply for you.

📨Everything that arrived today is a reply to an existing letter, so no new people looking for pen pals this time, but if you would like to get involved please come and drop by a letter introducing yourself and we will post it off to our friends for you.

More information on our website
https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/library-letters-project/

19/08/2026

📸 Happy World Photography Day 📸

We are incredibly proud to host an exhibition by local alternative photographer, Alan Withington, at Nottingham Central Library until the end of September 2026. Alan works predominantly with cyanotype lumen, creates pinhole cameras and solargraphs, and has produced some stunning images of the natural world.

Alan also introduced some of his alternative photography to you, in his workshops over June and July, of which can be seen on the digital exhibition next to his prints. Come down to Nottingham Central Library during our open hours to peruse this fantastic work!

17/08/2026

📚Nottingham Central Library is delighted to welcome Nottingham writer Darren Simpson and Five Leaves books to launch his new scary novel!

🖋A fantastically chilling middle-grade novel about cursed mirrors suitable for adults and young adults, following Darren’s earlier gruesome work Thirst.

🪞Don’t look too closely into the mirror. It may look back…

🍰There will be short readings, some discussion… refreshments, and cake!

📍Location: Nottingham Central Library

📅Date: Thursday 24 September

🕒Time: Doors 6.30pm, Start 7pm to 8.15pm

🎟Tickets: Free entry, booking required, https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/lykewise-darren-simpson/

15/08/2026

🎺Join us for Nottingham Central Library’s late night cabaret, Sound at Central!
September’s edition sees us celebrating all things brass with esteemed Professor Trevor Herbert and the launch of the book on Brass ‘The Brass Band Story’, with an accompanying story themed show by the nationally celebrated Carlton Brass.

📚Copies of the book will be available to buy from the Five Leaves stall on the night – or buy a copy of the book with you ticket below.

🎶Get your tickets now and help us get that chainmail chandelier rocking in the Central Library Atrium.

📍Location: Nottingham Central Library

📅Date: Thursday 17 September

🕒Time: 6.30pm doors, 7pm start, 9pm close

🎟Tickets: £10 per person, £25 for entry to event and a copy of the book, https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/brass-band-story/

14/08/2026

🔎Nottingham Central Library is intrigued to present this workshop session that strives to get to the bottom of a very important question… Why do we love crime fiction?

📚Join bestselling crime writer Jo Middleton for a lively recorded discussion exploring what makes crime fiction so irresistible. From Agatha Christie to today’s bestselling detectives, we’ll share favourite books, memorable sleuths and the stories that first made us fall in love with mysteries, with a few intriguing objects from the world of crime fiction to help get the conversation started.
Whether you’re a lifelong mystery fan or just starting out on your crime journey, come along and share your recommendations, favourite detectives and the books that have stayed with you. You’ll be helping create a unique collection of local voices celebrating our love of crime fiction.

📍Location: Nottingham Central Library

📅Date: Wednesday 9 September

🕒Time:
Workshop 1: 2.30pm to 4pm
Workshop 2: 5.30pm to 7pm

🎟Tickets: Free entry, booking required https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/crime-fiction/

09/08/2026

📚Nottingham Central Library is proud to partner with Five Leaves Bookshop to bring you a Two-Hour Writing Workshop with Julia Bell

🖋Join writer and Birkbeck professor Julia Bell for a two-hour workshop exploring the art of paying attention through reading and writing.
Drawing on the ideas in her books Radical Attention (Peninsula Press) and Between the Lines (Simon & Schuster), and on Simone Weil’s idea of attention as a moral and democratic act, the session moves between short readings, guided writing prompts and open discussion. You’ll leave with new work on the page and a set of tools for reading and writing more attentively.

📅Saturday 19 September, 1.45pm to 3.45pm

📍Nottingham Central Library

🎟Ticket price – £20, book now,
https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/five-leaves-writing-workshop/

07/08/2026

📚Nottingham Central Library is proud to host this celebration evening for the Disability Sport Exhibition we are currently hosting on our first floor.

💚The evening will begin with a series of short talks from key people involved in the development of disability sport in Nottingham, from grass roots to Paralympic pathways.

⭐️There will be an opportunity to explore the exhibition and meet people featured in the exhibition.

❗Book your place now,
https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/celebrating-disability-sport-nottinghamshire/

06/08/2026

Celebrate Black poetry and Nottingham's literary heritage at this year's Read a Black Author event here at Nottingham Central Library. 📚
Bring a book by a Black poet, enjoy a shared quiet reading session, and hear poetry read aloud in a welcoming community setting.
This year's theme, "Pick a Poet," pays tribute to Oswald George Powe, author of one of the earliest pamphlets on race and class in Nottingham and a dedicated advocate for Black poets in the city.
Don't forget to browse the Central Library shelves to see what more you can find...

DETAILS:

📆 Tuesday 11 August 2026
⏲ 2:00pm–4:00pm (A note from Please arrive by 1:45pm for a promp

Book now! https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/read-a-black-author/