WRITERS from North Oxford are to join forces for a fundraising event for their library.

It is part of efforts by the Friends of Summertown Library and Oxfordshire County Council to give the South Parade building a £400,000 refurbishment.

Next month, residents including BBC arts editor Will Gompertz and author Mark Haddon will give talks, with tickets to the event at the North Wall Arts Centre raising money for the campaign.

Organiser and Summertown author Tim Pears, of Banbury Road, will also take part in the event. Mr Pears has written eight novels, including Land of Plenty, Disputed Land and A Revolution of the Sun. The former was made into a BBC television series.

Mr Pears, 57, said: “Previously we were campaigning just to keep the library open, but now we are raising money for the building, so the campaign has changed.

“I was looking for ways to fundraise and asked some of my fellow writers in Summertown and everyone I approached was happy to do it.”

Mr Haddon, author of Whitebread prize-winning The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, added: “The campaign to keep libraries in the public eye has faltered somewhat but libraries are still closing and still under threat.”

Money raised will go towards new bookshelves, walkways and seating, wireless internet, new decorations and a bigger layout.

Others set to appear are Margaret Drabble, Barbara Trapido and singing star Christopher Purves, who recently played St Peter in Elgar’s The Kingdom on the first night of the BBC Proms.

Oxford novelist Mrs Trapido, 72, a grandmother-of-one, said the library was her nearest after she moved north from Jericho. She said: “Summertown Library is a fantastic resource and a place where the community focus can be.”

  • The event will take place at the North Wall Arts Centre, in South Parade, North Oxford, from 8pm on October 18. For more information visit thenorthwall.com

 

 

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