The latest from Calderstones Mansion – including the story of the Storybarn

There's been a lot going on at Calderstones Mansion in the last few months - with lots of help from the hardworking and generous team at Prinovis, we've been able to open our first refurbished Reading Room to enable our group members to enjoy weekly sessions even more, and the summer has seen a number of outdoor productions stop off at the Garden Theatre, including shows from Illyria, MATE Productions and three sell-out performances of Romeo and Juliet from The Globe On Tour, with not even a spot or two of rain enough to dampen proceedings.

We are creating an International Centre for Reading at Calderstones, so it's fitting that we could welcome a special visitor from the other side of the world earlier this month. Shirley Bateman, Reader Development Team Leader from Melbourne Library Service came to The Reader HQ as part of her tour of literary projects around the UK and Ireland. As well as hearing all about the City of Readers campaign, Jane took Shirley on a tour of Calderstones, including the amazing Prinovis Reading Room. You can read more about the visit on Shirley's blog: https://shirleybateman.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/more-famous-than-the-beatles/

More exciting news is just around the corner...development of the Storybarn, the North West's first interactive story centre for children and families, is taking shape outside HQ as we type, and we're looking forward to welcoming visitors from far and wide when it opens this Autumn. The Storybarn has been made possible thanks to funding from the Social Investment Business and their Liverpool City Region Impact Fund - our Head of Facilities Craig spoke to SIB about the plans for the Storybarn and how it will encourage imagination and a love of reading in future generations:

Keep up to date with all of the latest at the Mansion House on the Calderstones section of our website, and by following @CaldiesMansion on Twitter - where you can see the newest, very exciting installation to the Storybarn, tested by our Storybarn Developer Holly and Jane herself!