ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Available for over a year

Poet Liz Berry returns to a now empty building that she has a close personal link with- Selly Oak Library in Birmingham, which closed in 2017. Her own mother served as a librarian in Wolverhampton for several decades and Liz reflects on how the the values she inherited from her mother's commitment, curiosity, and care are inseparable from the be-shelved walls. Empty Spaces explores the beauty and melancholy of abandoned places that still hold meaning. Each episode invites a poet to inhabit one site of their choosing and breathe imagination, memory, and lyricism back into the surroundings via poetry. Liz is back outside the building, to write a poem about the library's recent demise. Opened in 1906, the red-brick library now stands as a witness to a century of community life in bustling Selly Oak. As Liz reflects on the building’s history and her personal connection to it, she explores how libraries nurture belonging, enlightenment and imagination… and mourns their disappearance. Producer: Sean Allsop Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas Sound Mix: Mike Woolley An Overcoat Media production for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3