Sutton Scene - Deputy Leader of the Council Column 17/07/2020

During lockdown, Sutton’s libraries had over 40,000 e-books and e-audiobooks accessed by our library members and 500 new customers for our digital service. Residents can also read newspapers and magazines for free using Pressreader. We registered over 124,000 articles opened between April and June – what a well-read bunch you are!

We also developed a whole new online service to keep our children active and learning. Thousands of families tuned into the Rhymetime and Storytime sessions streamed on YouTube whilst the free Children’s Learning Activities saw youngsters (and their parents) getting crafty by turning household objects into out-of-this-world creations. Overall, the service delivered 17,000 free sessions and activities covering health and fitness, food and drink, free theatre and more.   

An exciting project aimed at capturing our experiences during the lockdown is The Locals Diaries. This collates materials on film, image or oral recordings from all our communities which relays what it means to live, work or study in our borough. In collaboration with Arts Network Sutton this project was expanded into ‘The Locals Diaries - Home Studio’ where resident artist Doug Shaw encouraged us all to get creative with items around the home.

I’m delighted that so many of our residents are taking advantage of the Council’s expanded digital library service to get crafty, cultural, learn new skills or share their experiences. Many of these services will continue even though we have now started to reopen our libraries.

If you subscribe to our Cultural Events Newsletter you will be able to keep up to date with all our services and events. You can never stop learning!

Councillor Jayne McCoy

Deputy Leader, Sutton Council