What's On

All our sessions are run using Zoom, so download the app on your phone, tablet or computer and join in!

Are you over 60 and want to chat with other people your age? Then join our weekly Prime Time session every Monday, 10am - 11am

Email Clara.Crocetti@towerhamlets.gov.uk an we will send you an invite to the next session

February 22
Tea & Chat - Shows: Share your best theatre or concert experience of all time.
1 March
The Venerable Roger Preece, Master of The Royal Foundation of St Katharine, talks about the work of this East London institution.
8 March
Monthly Documentary Screening : Halima Khanom presents another film from the Local History Library and Archives. This month, we look at the momentous events of the Wapping dispute, the lengthy strike by print workers in 1986. 
15 March
Jill Myatt is a regular Prime Time attendee. She recounts the life of her husband, Dr Hla Myint Myat, during World War Two, when he was a student in Japan.
22 March
Tea and Chat : Springwatch. Join us with your cuppa to discuss Easter and the changing seasons. 
29 March
Games : Play Countdown and see how good you are with words and numbers against the clock.
 

Is English your second language and you want to practise speaking it with others? Then join our weekly Conversation Club every Wednesday, 11am - 12noon.

Email Arif.Ahmed@towerhamlets.gov.uk and we will send you an invite to the next session

We are launching an additional session on Fridays 11-12noon. The session will launch on 12 February.
The staff contact will be Sumon.Miah@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Would you like to share stories and poetry to lift the mood? Possibly take a turn of reading out loud? Join our weekly Book Break group every Tuesday from 3 - 4pm.

Please email George.Gratton@towerhamlets.gov.uk who will send you an invite to the next session.

Talk about what you’re reading and make friends with other readers. We have two online books groups and you’re welcome to join either – or both
 

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Thursday 11 March, 6:30pm

Sparklingly witty and filled with emotion, centring voices we often see othered, and written in an innovative fast-moving form that borrows technique from poetry, Girl, Woman, Other is a polyphonic and richly textured social novel that shows a side of Britain we rarely see, one that reminds us of all that connects us to our neighbours, even in times when we are encouraged to be split apart.

• If you would like to join the group above please email Atalanta.kernick@towerhamlets.gov.uk and you will be contacted with a login for the session which takes place on Zoom

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
Wednesday 17 March, 6:15pm

Narrator Nick Carraway tells the story of his neighbour Jay Gatsby, whose parties at his Long Island mansion are as lavish as his past is mysterious. Yet Gatsby cares only for one of his guests: his lost love Daisy Buchanan, now married and living across the bay.
 
It is available as an eBook and audiobook

• If you would like to join the group above please email Julian.Harrison@towerhamlets.gov.uk and you will be contacted with a login for the session which takes place on Zoom

You are welcome to join both groups. Staff involved will be able to guide you as to how to login

Idea Store Community Navigator health advice sessions have moved online to give one to one support. Community Navigators can help with:

•    Advice on keeping safe and healthy
•    Information about how the Council can help you
•    Information about other services and groups that can give support, including foodbanks, voluntary groups, financial advice services

They are also able to give extra support to vulnerable or isolated residents, for example making phone calls or emailing on their behalf.

If you would like to contact a Community Navigator email: navigators@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Start up in London Libraries: Online

Since our libraries have been closed, our Start-ups in London Libraries workshops have been fully available online. If you are thinking about starting a business, you can now access all the information to help you achieve that from your own home. This includes our four start-up webinars and one-to-ones with our borough Business Champion, who can help you navigate through the COBRA database and create a sustainable plan.

Visit bl.uk/SiLL for all of the upcoming workshops and booking links. 

Start-ups in London Libraries is led by the British Library in partnership with 10 London boroughs. This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, J.P. Morgan and Arts Council England.

Email startups@towerhamlets.gov.uk for more information.

Bangladesh 50 Years
Identity and belonging in the East End before and after the Libreration War of 1971

2021 marks 50 years since the independence of Bangladesh. To mark the significance of this, Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives (THLHLA) and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) are leading Bangladesh 50 Years, one of four projects that forms a part of the National Portrait Gallery’s offsite programme; Citizen UK, during its temporary closure to transform the gallery. 

Citizen UK is an exciting research and creative engagement project involving the borough archive services, local communities and contemporary artists. It is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project will conclude with a Bangladesh 50 Festival taking place February - March 2021, marking Bangladesh Independence Day (26 March) and the related anniversary UN International Mother Language Day (21 February),  kicked off by the launch of a creative commission which will sit in the public realm in Tower Hamlets as well as a exhibition curated by Citizen Researchers, informed by historical materials from Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives and the National Portrait Gallery. See more information

Online exhibition

From Town Hall to Local History Library & Archives: new online exhibition is now available.
A short history of our service and premises, 1861-2015 is based on research undertaken for last year's 50th anniversary celebrations of the borough.

Sign up to the local History Library & Archive Newsletter