• Chess Drop In (Cultural Welcome Week)

    Recurring
    Ground Floor (Handling Tables)

    Calling all chess players! Head to our handling tables area and put your skills to the test. Meet other players and meet your match at this informal and fun drop-in […]

  • Vinyl DJ Workshop (Cultural Welcome Week)

    Henry Watson Music Library

    Come down to the Henry Watson Music Library for this relaxed, beginner‑friendly Vinyl DJ workshop - part of the Cultural Welcome Week at Central Library.  Led by vinyl DJ and […]

  • Behind the Scenes Tour (Cultural Welcome Week)

    Entrance Hall

    Calling all students! Get to know your Central Library inside out with this behind the scenes tour.  Which musician was once thrown out of the Language and Literature Library? What […]

  • Board Games Club (Cultural Welcome Week)

    Ground Floor (Handling Tables)

    Are you a wizard at Ticket to Ride? A fan of tableau building games? Come along a special Cultural Welcome Week edition of our free weekly boardgames sessions. Open to […]

  • Chess Drop In (Cultural Welcome Week)

    Recurring
    Ground Floor (Handling Tables)

    Calling all chess players! Head to our handling tables area and put your skills to the test. Meet other players and meet your match at this informal and fun drop-in […]

  • 2hr Music Production Workshop at Central Library

    Henry Watson Music Library

    Join us for a hands-on music production and DJ workshop at Central Library this October. Part of our Cultural Welcome Week programme. Welcome back your host and tutor Niah Jemijog […]

  • RNCM presents… At Henry Watson Music Library

    Henry Watson Music Library

    RNCM presents… At the Henry Watson Music Library is a brand new series of concerts for 2026. Taking place in the historic music library of Central Library, these concerts will […]

  • Manchester Literature Festival presents Emily St. John Mandel

    Performance Space

    Bestselling Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel joins us to discuss her electrifying new novel Exit Party – exploring parallel worlds, political unrest and blurred realities.   In a near-future Los Angeles emerging from conflict, Ari Walker and her […]

  • Manchester Literature Festival presents Ian McMillan

    Performance Space

    Beloved poet, broadcaster and performer Ian McMillan launches his moving and inventive new collection Red River Valley. Drawing on family life, everyday absurdities and the impact of austerity on the South Yorkshire village where he has lived […]

  • Manchester Literature Festival presents Frank Cottrell-Boyce

    Performance Space

    Beloved author, screenwriter and Waterstones Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce brings his trademark wit and warmth to a moving conversation about books, imagination and the stories that shape our lives.   Inspired by his new […]

  • Manchester Literature Festival presents Louise Kennedy & Wendy Erskine

    Performance Space

    Two of Northern Ireland’s most acclaimed, contemporary authors, Louise Kennedy and Wendy Erskine, join BBC 6 Music broadcaster Deb Grant for an unmissable conversation about storytelling and identity.   Louise Kennedy (Trespasses) introduces Stations, one of […]