Library community and events
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Do you want to find out about all our exciting events in the library? Join our library community and we will email you about activities and opportunities available.
Get involved, make friends and have fun!
Email us at [email protected] and join our mailing list.
Forthcoming Library events
The library organises a range of events aimed at our students and staff throughout the year. Here you can see what is coming up next, book a place and also read about our past events.
Study Hub poetry competition
Do you fancy yourself as a bit of a William Wordsworth, or perhaps a John Keats or Maya Angelou?
As we enter the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, we are looking for budding poets to fill the new Study Hub in the JB Priestley Library with beautiful, inspiring words.
The Study Hub on Floor 01 opened in October. It features 12 bookable pods, each named after a feature of the Yorkshire moors, such as bracken, skylark and Swaledale sheep.
Earlier in 2024, we held a photography competition and a panel of judges picked one photo for display in each of the bookable pods. Now we want to add to the display with a poem on the theme of each pod.
The poetry competition is open to students, staff and alumni. The closing date is Friday 21 March, World Poetry Day. A panel of judges will pick the winners, which will then be displayed in each pod. An overall winner will also receive a £15 gift card.
You can enter more than one poem, but only one for each theme. The themes are below.
Themes
Please write your poem along one or more of the following themes.
- Bracken
- Heather
- Bilberries
- Oak
- Swaledale (the breed of sheep, not the valley)
- Butterfly
- Curlew
- Skylark
- Ingleborough
- Top Withens (ruined farmhouse near Haworth)
- Beehive
- Limestone
Terms and conditions
- Entries will be judged by a panel.
- Entrants will retain the copyright for any poem they submit to the competition but by submitting a poem, you grant the University a perpetual licence to use your poem.
- If your poem is chosen for display, you permit the University to print your name and course/job title alongside the poem and in University communications.
- Winners will be notified by email.
- One overall winner will receive a £15 high street voucher. No cash alternative will be given.
- Any personal data provided will only be used for the purposes of providing vouchers and will be deleted after three months.
- Artificial Intelligence-generated (AI) poems are not permitted.
How to enter
Use our Poetry competition form to enter. You will be asked for your name, UoB student/staff number, then you will be able to paste your poem into the form.
We hope to read all of your poems soon!
Living Library
Don't judge a book by its cover!
Living Library books are people from our community in Bradford who will share a personal experience or perspective on life. Borrow a living book in a safe space and take the opportunity to have a conversation and learn more about their experience. Read more about our past Living Library events.
Library Event Coordinators
Student Event Coordinators (Library Services) volunteer to help run library-based activities and events in the "Library Community Group". Working as a team they develop and plan a programme of innovative events for the library community.
Read more about the role and benefits, including recruitment for this role.
Library book club
The Library runs a regular book club in collaboration with Bradford Libraries who kindly provide us a number of books to borrow. For each title chosen, the group then meet to discuss the book. The book club is friendly, informal and open to all students and staff - do come and join us!
Read about our previous book club titles and meetings.
Next title in book club
The next Library Book Club book has arrived: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.
Please enquire at the library counter about collecting a copy to read and meet us on 5th March (12pm-1pm) in Room 0.17 JB Priestley Library.
