A recent event at Barnsley Library, supported by EnRich, proved to be a real success.
A grant provided by us helped Anna Butler from the Library service and her son music student Jonny to organise an Open Mic event aimed at young performers. Jonny said he wanted an event organised by young people for young people which would be perfect for inexperienced performers to have a go on stage.
As well as attracting a different audience to the Library it also gave Jonny excellent experience of organising such an event and his mum Anna achieved a first for her place of work putting on the event in conjunction with Barnsley’s Rhythm Inc.
Anna said: “It was invaluable experience for Central Library Staff to work with music professionals and also young people to test out what worked and didn’t work before we move into our new Library@theLightbox where we want to help young people put more events on in the future”.
Eight artistes in total performed on the afternoon – some having to overcome first-time nerves to perform. All enjoyed the session so much they promised they would return and play again! She added: “From the Library service point of view we were thrilled to see many new faces who we haven’t seen in the library before.
“We want to encourage young performers to test out their skills in the Library as a safe space to try performing before they are ready for the commercial music scene”.
In the future Jonny added it is hoped that the library staff would be able to build stronger links with Barnsley College Music students to work on other similar events.
Congratulations to all performers from EnRich and many thanks to Jonny for his great idea!