What's on

Janine Booth Book Launch: The Big J vs The Big C

Meeting Room 1

The Big J vs The Big C: Issues, Experiences and Poems in the Battle Against Breast Cancer With special guest poet Laura Taylor. Poet, author and activist Janine Booth was part of the ranting poetry movement of the ‘80s, performing as ‘The Big J’. In late 2016, she discovered a strange indentation in her right […]

Best of Manchester Animation Festival

Performance Space

Celebrate 5 years of UK's biggest animation festival as they showcase the winners of past years editions in two specially curated screenings. Introduced by the festival team, these two shows give you the chance to see something different! 10-11am - Programme 1 (cert. 18); 11.30am-12.30pm - Programme 2 (cert. 15) Free - please drop in

Tom Moore & Archie Moss

Performance Space

Accordion/Viola/Electronics duo debuting brand new material from their upcoming album to be released in 2020. Widely regarded as two of the best players, innovators and performers in traditional folk amongst a precociously gifted generation, their finely-crafted arrangements wield a rare potency. Now, having toured with with some of the biggest and brightest acts in the […]

£10

Capturing the Crescents

Performance Space

A Photographic Journey through Hulme in the 1980's - 90's, and how I survived and thrived by Richard Davis A talk and book signing by photographer Richard Davis.... 'I arrived in Hulme in 1988, having left behind Birmingham so I could study Photography at Manchester Polytechnic. For the next five years Hulme was Home and […]

Story Selector

Jewish Museum Pop-up Space

Children’s storyteller Robin Simpson will be performing the exciting, curious and fascinating stories behind objects in Manchester Jewish Museum’s story selector machine. Come along and help him decide the direction the stories go and see the objects behind the stories. Suitable for families Free - please drop in

2084 – An Immersive Experience

SORRY, DUE TO HIGH DEMAND ALL PERFORMANCES HAVE NOW SOLD OUT AN IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE INSPIRED BY ORWELL'S CLASSIC The Ministry of Truth is recruiting... ​Enter the dramatic world of Manchester Central Library after hours and embark on an immersive journey inspired by George Orwell's dystopian novel. This new immersive theatre production takes the audience inside […]

£15 – £20

Roving Robots Coding Workshop

Media Lounge

Do you want to learn how to code? Come along to our new series of coding workshops for all. Families, adults, grandparents, in fact anyone aged 8 years and above is welcome to join us in learning how to code these cute and friendly robots. Free - please drop-in

Listening Lunch

Performance Space

Grab a sandwich and head to the Performance Space for a relaxing lunchtime listening to clips from Central Library's sound archives. Unlocking Our Sound Heritage is a new audio preservation project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Tapes the project has recently digitised include classical music, radio drama, life stories, folk music, celebrity interviews […]

Explore your Archive Week

Visit Central Library and help us to create our own cabinet of wonder. In these sessions we will showcase material which you may not normally have the chance to see. Help us search for hidden gems from our collections to add to our wonderful new treasure. Free - please drop in

Prostheses in Antiquity: Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know

Performance Space

A variety of different types of prostheses were used by the Greeks and Romans to replace various missing body parts. In this talk, we shall consider the following questions: How common – or uncommon – were prostheses in classical antiquity? Who made them? How and why did they make them? Who used them? How and […]

Junior Jam: Noisy Toys

Children's Library

Junior Jam - our jam-packed music sessions for 4-8 year olds! With an exciting theme each month - from Space Travel to Loop the Loop - help your little ones develop their musical skills in a fun, friendly and accessible way. Sessions are free and take place at the Children’s Library at Manchester Central Library. […]

Val McDermid & Denise Mina

Performance Space

Manchester Literature Festival presents... Queens of Tartan Noir, Val McDermid and Denise Mina, join us to discuss their brilliant new novels. In How the Dead Speak, Val brings Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan together again when the remains of a killer, who’s supposedly alive and in prison, are found on a construction site. […]

£12