Libraries commemorate end of slave trade

1.41.51pm GMT Sun 11th Mar 2007

A series of events will be held by borough libraries to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.

Historian Steve Martin will set the ball rolling when he gives a talk entitled "London and the Slave Trade" at Richmond Library, on Friday, March 16, starting 7.00pm. Steve is a South Londoner well known for his walking tours of Brixton and other parts of the capital significant to black history.

Twickenham Library will mark the anniversary with a Poetry and Prose event on Saturday March 24, between 2.30 and 3.30pm. Poems will be read by the Reading Group Players and there will be an opportunity for audience members to recite poems of their own. And on Wednesday May 30 the Brixton Gospel Singers will visit Whitton Library, (7pm) and will perform songs that came out of slavery.

On Saturday April 21 a special family event will be held at Richmond Library, between 3pm and 7pm. There will be craft-making and stories (3 to 5pm) and a steel band from Hampton Community College from 5. All these events will be accompanied by book displays in adult and children's libraries on the slave trade theme. There is free admission to all the events.

Cllr John Coombs, Richmond Council's Cabinet Member for Libraries, said:

"This will be a fascinating and varied programme of activities and I would urge as many people as possible from the borough and further afield to take the opportunity to pay a visit to celebrate this historic event."