Carved reading bench to get people in Coventry reading

The bench includes a feature allowing people to listen to audio recordings of local stories

A carved bench has been installed in Coventry to inspire people to read.

It was commissioned by the city's library service as part of the One Million Reads campaign, which is aiming to get people in Coventry to read 1,000,000 books by the end of May.

The carvings represent well-known stories like tale of Lady Godiva, alongside stories written by local authors, especially for the campaign.

It also features audio recordings of stories read by library users.

Elinor Cole, from the library service, said One Million Reads Coventry, which started in March 2021, is nearing its target, with 960,000 recorded online and in libraries so far.

'Iconography of Coventry'

She said the bench, outside Tile Hill Library, was commissioned following the success of similar benches elsewhere in the country.

But she said the library service wanted to make it unique to the city by featuring "some of the characters and iconography of Coventry's myths and legends".

There are eight audio recordings saved in the bench, totalling around eight minutes in total and she said it was "beautiful when you see it."

Mary Courtney, a local artist and writer invited to have one of her stories immortalised in the carvings, said: "It's just such a lovely mad idea."

She created a story told from the perspective of the city's gargoyles.