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National Libraries Day

National Libraries Day is a huge celebration of libraries, championing staff and communities across the UK. As the national development agency, Arts Council England saw this as the perfect opportunity to use their creative voice and begin a positive conversation about libraries.

It started with a letter…

Part of the conversation was an animation inspired by a moment in history. In 1971 people of note were asked to write letters to the children of Troy, Michigan in celebration of their new library.

The letter that was brought to life through animation was written by American writer and professor, Isaac Asimov. (Opens an external website in a new tab)

Animation still showing an old fashioned envelope on a wooden desk addressed to ‘Boys and Girls’.
Animation still showing a collage-stye scene of a time warp depicted by multiple paper circles nested inside each other. Popping out of 3 of the rings is an alien, a dog in a space helmet and a rocket. There are also stars made out of foil scattered over the the circles. The text reads “a time machine”.
Animation still showing a collage-stye scene with a cutout robot on a foreground made from blue and purple foil. In the background is a futuristic city and the Egyptian Pyramids in a futuristic dome situated behind the Great Wall of China. The text reads; “and the far future”.

Libraries now & then

A carefully crafted world of visual content aimed to give viewers a sense of libraries’ warmth and history, whilst generating curiosity and intrigue around their future.

Animation still: A positive image of a green filed, blue sky and sunflowers with 2 children wearing scuba diving gear (the animations shows them wearing different outfits to communicate their potential). The text reads: ‘And most of all, a gateway to a better and happier and more useful life’.
Animation still showing an iPad on a wooden desk surrounded by cutout paper sunflowers. On the iPad is the Arts Council England logo and text which reads “What would your letter say?” Along with the hashtag #libraryletters and the web address artscouncil.org.uk/libraryletters

It’s a wonderful world

Using a child’s voiceover a sense of childlike wonder was injected into the animation. The Arts Council England team felt is was ‘a magical piece of content’.