Living Knowledge Network
What is the Living Knowledge Network?
Kent Libraries are part of the Living Knowledge Network, which brings world-class speakers, emerging voices and inspirational debate to public libraries and the people who use them.
Livestream compelling cultural events, or watch recorded events on demand to get a front-row seat for free no matter where you live.
Explore this site to watch events, find free resources, browse book recommendations, and to discover what we have coming up.
Coming Soon | Unearthed: The Power of Gardening
Our Unearthed: The Power of Gardening display in Kent Libraries will explore the transformative power of gardening.
Gardening is so much more than the nation’s favourite pastime. Tracing personal stories alongside global histories, Unearthed celebrates gardening as a force for creativity, resilience and connection. From the people who have fought for the right and space to garden to the stories of the plants we use for food and medicine, discover how gardening has shaped our lives, our communities, and our planet.
Alongside the exhibition in London, a display will be touring Kent Libraries over the next few months. You can visit the display at:
- The Amelia in Tunbridge Wells from Friday 2 May to Saturday 17 May
- Lydd Library from Thursday 22 May to Tuesday 3 June
- New Ash Green Library from Saturday 7 June to Saturday 21 June
- Sevenoaks Library from Wednesday 25 June to Wednesday 9 July
Plus more dates to come!
We'll also be sharing resources, book recommendations and events on demand from the British Library and libraries across the UK for you to watch for free from home.
Explore Events
Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music
For centuries, Black communities have created music in the UK, melding global influences into a Black British sound that has echoed through generations.
Beyond the Bassline the first major exhibition of its kind anywhere in the world, was about more than music. It was about the places where these sounds were born, the voice of community, resistance, culture and joy, a celebration of trailblazers and innovators, and the layered Black experiences that have birthed a thriving musical culture and history.
Alongside the exhibition in London, a display toured Kent Libraries throughout 2024, with the chance to catch it again later this year in 2025.
We're also sharing resources, book recommendations and events on demand from the British Library and libraries across the UK for you to watch for free from home.
Take a look at what's on offer below.
Watch | Introducing Beyond the Bassline
Explore Events
At this special event, musical legend Eddy Grant talks to DJ and radio host Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy about his long career, with vinyl playbacks of some of his greatest tracks, inspirations and overlooked gems.
Eddy Grant has had a highly prolific musical career spanning nearly six decades and that has expanded the possibilities of rock and pop, funk, reggae, soca and even electronic experimentation.
As a teenager he formed the pioneering multi-racial pop/rock outfit The Equals, best known for the classic, Baby, Come Back. Eddy once again achieved success with ‘Walking on Sunshine’ and ‘Living on the Frontline’ and the international stardom with ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’ and ‘Electric Avenue’ from his 1982 album Killer on the Rampage.
Join pioneering MC and producer D Double E as he presents Rhyme-Antics, a captivating celebration of the power of language.
Delve into the heart of poetic expression, where the streets meet the stage and the beats meet the page – UKG, Jungle, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Grime... While the original romantics Keats, Shelley, Byron and others reclaimed the human heart from the rise of the smokestacks, their contemporary counterparts find it beating as strongly as ever amidst the post-industrial debris.
Rhyme-Antics sees 21st century lyricists Deyah, TrueMendous, Wish Master and JayaHadADream paint vivid portraits of resilience, identity, and the art of the possible. Rhyme-Antics is an electrifying event that celebrates the power of words to inspire, provoke, unite and, above all, transport you to a nation of the imagination.
This event took place on 23 May 2024
Over the last fifty years, the UK has contributed significantly to expanding the genre of reggae.
Join three of the UK’s foremost reggae revolutionaries in conversation for one night only: Linton Kwesi Johnson, who created reggae poetry, and musicians/producers Dennis Bovell and John Kpiaye, pioneers of ‘lovers’ rock’ - a very British sound. These artists have also performed together over forty decades, taking LKJ’s words and music to global audiences, with many a tale to tell about their experiences along the way.
An unforgettable evening of words and music, chaired by scholar and music historian Paul Gilroy.
This event took place on 30 May 2024
In his new book Track Record: Me, Music and the War on Blackness. George reflects on the role of music in Black life alongside the structures of power, capitalism, colonialism and race. He sheds light on the forces that restrict Black creativity and excellence and offers a fresh perspective on the world around us.
At this event he talks to special guests including the multi-talented performers Shystie and Tinchy Stryder about these ideas and their own experiences.
This event took place on 31 May 2024
Fantasy: Realms of Imagination
Inspired by Fantasy: Realms of Imagination at the British Library, the display in our libraries explored how fantasy is flourishing today across a range of different media, literature, TV, film, games and more, and looked back at the origins and the rich diversity of the fantasy genre, from Arthurian legends to manga and live action role-playing games.
Find free resources and recording of events from the exhibition below.
Chinese and British | Exploring British Chinese communities and culture
Chinese and British took its lead from the British Library’s exhibition and reflected on this long history through photographs, manuscripts and interviews. The exhibition toured Kent Libraries from November 2022 to April 2023.
Find free resources and recording of events from the exhibition below.
Recorded Live on Monday 17 April 2023
Watch now
Food is at the heart of the Chinese British experience. Arriving, or growing up with multiple food traditions, cooking was always a means to survive and to integrate and at a time in the 1980s, it was estimated that over ninety percent of Chinese British employment was in catering. Whether Cantonese, Sichuan or Zhejiang, and however much it has been adapted, ‘Chinese’ food is now the most popular cuisine in the UK, continuing to evolve and bring fresh discoveries.
At this event speakers from very different food backgrounds share their stories, and their passions for food, as part of this remarkable and sometimes challenging cultural and culinary journey. With Ken Hom, one of Britain’s best-known food broadcasters; Angela Hui, author of Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter; restauranteur and writer Helen Tse and two-Michelin-starred chef Andrew Wong; all in conversation with School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang.
This event will be broadcast live from the British Library as part of their 2023 Food Season.
Reserve and borrow your copy of Ken Hom's My Stir Fried Life
Reserve and borrow your copy of Angela Hui's Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter
Recorded live on Thursday 13 April 2023
Watch now
Online event celebrating the launch of Xiaolu Guo's new memoir Radical, a playful, provocative and original take on striving for a life of her own. Xiaolu brings her experience of living in different continents into all her books: from rural and urban China, to London, Europe, and now New York, where she spent a year, away from her husband and child, separated by place and language, and from people.
Radical is a memoir about being an outsider and the desperate longing to connect. It is also a dictionary and an ardent love letter; an archive of an artist's search for creative freedom and an attempt to find a space between her fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes.
Reserve and borrow your copy of Radical by Xiaolu Guo from Kent Libraries
Event livestreamed on Thurs 19 Jan 2023
Watch now
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Julie's bestselling book, Happy Families, is one of the chosen books by the British Library curators as part of the exhibition - Chinese and British: Exploring British Chinese communities and culture.
About the book: Three generations, two secrets, one extended family...
Amy is thirty-four and has just given up her glittering career in the big (Welsh) city to move back in with her grandfather, returning to work in the small-town Chinese takeaway where she spent her bookish and boring childhood. Why? That's a secret she won't tell.
Just like the secret of why her grandfather, Ah Goong, and her father, TC Li, haven't spoken to each other in thirty years...
Reserve and borrow your copy of Happy Families by Julie Ma from Kent Libraries
First streamed 21 January 2023
Join the family fun live from Liverpool Central Library. Celebrate Lunar New Year alongside beloved children's authors Eva Wong Nava and Maisie Chan. How does a writer think of a great story? How do they come up with their characters? Do they do all the drawings themselves? Watch these online sessions to hear stories and join the activities.
I LOVE CHINESE NEW YEAR with Eva Wong Nava - Watch now
Eva Wong Nava reads from her new picture book 'I Love Chinese New Year'. Twelve animals, one for each year, each one with their own special powers. It all started with a race to cross the most heavenly of rivers…
Doodles and Danny Chung with Maisie Chan - Watch now
Dive into the world of eleven-year-old Danny Chung, who loves drawing more than anything – especially maths! Maisie Chan, appears live to read from her award-winning book and answer your burning questions...
Breaking the News
Breaking the News, created by the British Library, featured in many libraries across the UK at the beginning of 2022. The exhibition toured around Kent Libraries and Archives, having started its journey at the Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone in February and visiting Canterbury, Whitstable and Folkestone Library later in the year.
Inspired by the UK’s biggest news collection, which dates back to the 1500s and grows daily, the exhibition showcased what makes a story through real headlines from newspapers, TV, radio and digital media.
Watch recordings of some of our past events and explore our recommended resources from the Breaking the News exhibition below.
Talk held on Friday 24 June, 6pm at Folkestone Library
As part of our touring exhibition, Breaking the News, we were joined at Folkestone Library for a special evening event by reporter turned best-selling author, Paul Ilett.
His first novel, Exposé, was a great success across the board, with fans of satirical thrillers, Doctor Who, and queer fiction among his followers. Paul continues to write as a freelance journalist with articles published in The Guardian. Now back with the much anticipated sequel, Exposed, Paul gave a expert Q&A about journalism and self-publishing to our audience at the library.
Talk held on Monday 14 March 1 to 2pm at the Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone
Screen Archive South East, in association with Kent Archives, collects, preserves and shares moving images made in Kent.
A significant part of the collection features films by amateur and professional film-makers that capture the county’s news. These are films dedicated to visiting celebrities, special events and unexpected scenes and they all reveal significant moments in the life of the county in the 20th Century.
Dr Frank Gray, the Director of SASE, provides a tour through this old news on screen. In the video above, you’ll see the Kent Show at Mote Park, the Red Cross preparing for war in Broadstairs, and enjoy a Festival of Britain Garden Party at Whitstable.
Being a member of the library gives you access to online news subscriptions free of charge.
These cover both current and historical news. Most of the resources will ask you to log in using your library card number, some will ask you for your library PIN. A few of the websites can only be accessed from computers in libraries. Find out more about your free access to online resources on our website
British Library Newspapers
Influential national and regional newspapers from 1800 to 1950
Sign into our collection of Gale Databases to access this resource.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive
The world's first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, covering British and world events 1842 to 2003
Sign into our collection of Gale Databases to access this resource.
Times Digital Archives
Search through the digital edition of The Times (London) 1785 to 2014. The entire newspaper is captured, with all notices, obituaries, advertisements and illustrations/photos.
Sign into our collection of Gale Databases to access this resource.
NewsBank
A comprehensive collection of reliable news sources covering a wide array of topics and issues.
Visit the Global Access Newsbank website.
British Newspaper Archive Community Edition
Available in all Kent Libraries, but no remote access
A partnership between the British Library and Brightsolid online publishing to digitise up to 40 million newspaper pages including some Kent newspapers.
Contact Ask a Kent Librarian for more information.
Visit the Kent Archives website to find out more about our collections, or get in contact with your local library to explore our local history ephemera and newspaper archives.
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Access over 7,000 contemporary newspapers and magazines on your phone, tablet or on a computer with your Kent Libraries' membership. Read current editions and recent past copies for free!
Living Knowledge Network | Watch on demand
The Living Knowledge Network brings world-class speakers, emerging voices and inspirational debate to public libraries and the people who use them. Compelling cultural events are livestreamed with libraries across the UK, so you can get a front-row seat for free no matter where you live. More information about the Living Knowledge Network and the British Library can be found on their website
Explore the Living Knowledge Network website to watch previous events and discover what's coming up
