Author school visit – Basel West Library, Switzerland
This week I’ve been kindly invited by Basel West Library in Switzerland to do an Author visit. I’ve been asked to talk about my books to school children from the Swiss International School. The school offers bilingual education in both English and German. Since I’ll also be talking about my translated books, that means doing a small presentation in German as well – I’d better get out my dictionary!
I’m very happy to be working with the staff from Basel West Library as they are very active in trying to encourage children to read more and work a lot with the local community.
Basel West Library (Stadtbibliothek Basel) has a long history, having been founded in 1807 as the “Reading Institute for Youth” (Leseanstalt für die Jugend). Nowadays, on a daily basis over 3,200 items are borrowed by Basel West Library members.
Basel West Library aims to be a friendly place for people to come and relax, read what is on offer, meet others and be able to bring their children. It has a growing children’s section which is visited by enthusiastic young readers.
There are lots of events too, such as the Bookworms group where children can listen to nursery rhymes in both English and German. One interesting idea is the Children’s Literature Bus (Kinderliteratur-Bus) that encourages children whereever they are to improve their reading skills. The Kinderliteratur-Bus reaches about 6,000 young readers.
Viel Spass!