Share your opinion
Help us improve our services by filling in our quick survey to let us know how we're doing.
Celebrating stories from the LGBTQ+ community: ‘Queer Tales from Wales’ Event
As part of the Library’s LGBTQ+ Forum events, a Queer Tales from Wales event was held at the Drwm on 7 March, based on the life of Amy Dillwyn (1845-1935) – the activist, industrialist and author from Swansea. She was a determined campaigner for women’s rights and an active member of the National Union of Women’s Sufferage Societies. Her uncle, John Dillwyn Llewellyn of Penlle’r-gaer was one of Wales’ early photography innovators.
Eisteddfod yr Urdd, Denbighshire
With the Urdd celebrating its centenary, the theme for the Library’s stall at the Denbighshire Urdd Eisteddfod (30 May – 4 June) was the history of the organisation itself and images from the Urdd collection held at the Library were to be seen on large panels across the Maes. Children and young people from all over Wales came to take part in a program of activities on the stand and to enjoy the exhibition which drew attention to the extensive collections about the Urdd which kept in the Library including video items from the Wales Broadcast Archive collection.
National Eisteddfod of Wales, Ceredigion 2022
The long-awaited National Eisteddfod in Tregaron saw us welcome visitors to the Eisteddfod to the Library stand with an exhibition about the history and culture of Tregaron and the surrounding area, drawing on the Library’s various collections. For the first time a cinema room was included as part of the stand in order to show items from the Wales Broadcast Archive’s collections and there was an opportunity to enjoy live music and activities for children as part of the week’s program. The Library hosted three events in Cymdeithasau 1 & 2, as well as events in Lle Celf and Tŷ Gwerin; our Art Curator, Morfudd Bevan, gave a talk at Y Lle Celf on the young artist that are being currently supported by the Library, and a ‘From the Archives’ session was held in Tŷ Gwerin with Gareth Bonello, Owen Shiers and Ceri Rhys Matthews who had been taking a fresh look at music archives in the Library and performing some of the new works that were inspired by the collections.
Betty Campbell: In Character
As part of the Children’s Festival of Welsh History, actor Kim Abodurin shared a history lesson about a small area of Cardiff that has played a major role in the history of Wales over the past two hundred years. The one-person show about Betty Campbell looked at the life and career of the Butetown teacher, and was performed in the National Library during Black History Month.
Celebrating Phyllis Kinney’s contribution to the Welsh Music Archive
Another memorable event was a birthday party for Phyllis Kinney who celebrated her 100th birthday on 4 July. Phyllis Kinney was born in Michigan on 4 July 1922 and had a successful career as a singer, and then as a writer and researcher of traditional Welsh music. The archive of Phyllis Kinney and her husband Mered is held at the National Library, and the singer Gwenan Gibbard is researching the collection for her doctorate as part of a partnership with Bangor University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.
A concert was held at Oriel Gregynog with harpist Elinor Bennett performing where Eluned (daughter of Phyllis Kinney and Meredydd Evans) gave an entertaining talk about her mother’s life and work.
From the Racecourse to Qatar
Hundreds of children came to the Library to be part of a workshop on the history of the Welsh National Football teams during the campaign of the Welsh men's football team in the World Cup in Qatar. From the Racecourse to Qatar looked at the history of the men’s and women’s teams since the formation of the first national team in Wrexham in 1876. In the first session, pupils from Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth had the opportunity to enjoy a question and answer session with presenter and author Dylan Ebenezer.