'More than just books': Library hosts beach pop-up

The Suffolk Libraries pop-up event on Lowestoft beach is in its third year

A library hopes to show it is about more than just books during a three day pop-up event at the beach.

Georgie Quinn, marketing manager at Suffolk Libraries, said the event – which sees the service operating out of a beach hut in Lowestoft – had become a "regular thing".

The three-day event, which started on Wednesday, aims to spread awareness of some of its services and give out lots of free books.

"By coming down here, we can engage with communities in lots of different ways in a place they wouldn't certainly expect," Ms Quinn said.

A range of activities including storytimes will be happening at the beach

Ms Quinn said events such as the pop-up – which is in its third year – were "so important" in terms of connecting with the community and demonstrating the services the library offered.

"Everyone knows libraries for those static spaces where you go in, and you think you can get a book out and that's it," she said.

"We want to show off how vibrant, how dynamic we are as a library service."

A wellbeing team will also be in attendance at the event.

"There is a real common perception that libraries are just about books and we love books... but actually we are so much more," Ms Quinn said.

"We really want to cater to our communities. We want to make sure that we are a wellbeing service... There are plenty of arts and cultural activities going on that are really making our libraries a community space for everyone."

During the week, the library is running a range of events including tai chi on the beach, storytime, book-browsing sessions and poetry.

Ms Quinn said libraries had enjoyed "really good footfall" in recent years since they reopened post-Covid.

The beach huts have been lent to the group by East Suffolk Council.

Ms Quinn added: "If local people want to see more of it then we can always try to see if we can do it more."