Welcoming
Open to all, a space and programme that is welcoming and listens to everyone.
We aim to make the best use of our knowledge and professional skills to open up the world of poetry to readers, researchers, writers, and anyone curious about, or interested in, poetry.
Poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and to whom we will become.
Carol Ann Duffy
Imaginative
We have a passion for the power of curiosity and imagination, and celebrate poetry from the many community languages of Greater Manchester.
We imagine and support new forms of poetry and research, and test new platforms for sharing and celebrating poetry. With connections to writers across the region and internationally, and at the heart of a multidisciplinary creative campus, we will enable collaboration with a wide range of people and organisations across art forms, to engage with poetry as a way of exploring knowledge and experience in a range of disciplines and professions.
Kind
We appreciate that for all of us, life can be a complex challenge. Engaging with poetry and the creative process can develop our empathy, kindness and compassion, deepen our understanding of self, others and the world around us. We take care in our approach to collection development, engagement programmes, the environment, and how we value and treat members, staff and partners, encouraging respect for diversity and understanding between people.
When the triumphant rain falls/ we think of rainbows/it’s the Mancunian way.
Lemn Sissay
Transformative
By engaging with poetry, we can nourish the imagination and foster social, emotional and intellectual change and transformation. We believe that everyone has the capacity to develop through engagement in poetry. The Poetry Library is changing and developing all the time in terms of the collection and its programme - tell us what change you want to see.