A big crowd attended Central Library last night for the launch of Liverpool Reads 2007 with the author Andrea Levy reading from her book Small Island.
This is the largest mass-participation reading project that Britain has ever seen and with Bristol, Hull and Glasgow all taking part. The story tells of the arrival of black Jamaican immigrants – the descendants of enslaved Africans – in post-war Britain. It is particularly poignant for Liverpool to read this tale in 2007 as it is the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of British Slavery, of which the city played a part as a major port.
There are 10,000 free copies of the book being handed out. You need to pick up a voucher from a Liverpool Library but best to check with them first you can find library phone numbers here
and all but Walton and Lister Drive libraries are taking part.