Lambeth Libraries events and activities for March 2025

Events for Adults

Defying Limits: Women’s Voices in Challenging Professions – Film Screening

Monday 10 March, 6pm

Streatham Library, SW16 1PN

Bookings via Eventbrite

Join award-winning filmmaker Charysse Tia Harper and guests for film shorts and Q&A for International Women’s Day.

Films being screened include: Sizzle reel Las Matadoras (4 minutes), highlighting three female bullfighters and The Jill of the Trade (22 minutes), a Best Documentary winner showcasing five women in male-dominated professions.

Daughters of the Nile with Author Zahra Barri

Tuesday 11 March, 7pm

Carnegie Library, SE24 0DG

Bookings via Eventbrite

Join author and comedian Zahra Barri to discuss her award winning novel Daughters of the Nile. A darkly funny novel that examines the enduring strength of female bonds. Event organised by the Friends of Carnegie Library

Home Village with author Wang Yuewen

Saturday 15 March, 11am

Brixton Library. SW2 1JQ

Booking via Eventbrite

Join us for an exclusive event organised by Sinoist Books, the Chinese Literature Reader’s Club UK, and People’s Literature Publishing House, featuring Wang Yuewen and Vivian Ni as they discuss Home Village—a powerful novel that examines the impact of the momentous events of the 20th century on a small rural community in China.

The Thousand Year Old Garden: Inside The Secret Garden At Lambeth Palace

Monday 17 March, 7pm

Durning Library, SE11 4HF

Booking via Eventbrite

Join Nick Stewart Smith for a virtual wander through the fabled garden at Lambeth Palace where he spent 7 years as head gardener. While contemplating the garden’s long history, he explains how a thoughtful gardening approach places nature at the heart of everything, even in the midst of one of the world’s busiest cities. For refreshments a £3 donation is requested. Event organised by the Friends of Durning Library.

Call me Ishmaelle with author Xiaolu Guo

Tuesday 18 March, 6.30pm

Brixton Library. SW2 1JQ

Booking via Eventbrite

Join Xiaolu Guo to discuss her much anticipated reimagining of the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, from a female perspective.

Brixton’s four-legged performers

Thursday 20 March, 6.30pm

Brixton Library. SW2 1JQ

Booking via Eventbrite

Join Tracey Gregory and Brixton Society to hear about the many performing animals that walked the streets and trod the boards in Brixton. Brixton has always been home to performers but not all of them have been human. Find out more about these 19th and 20th century animal performers and where around Brixton they could be found.

Beyond the Secret Garden: Racially Minoritised People in British Children’s Books

Tuesday 25 March, 6.30pm

Brixton Library. SW2 1JQ

Booking via Eventbrite

Drawing on and expanding their long-running column for Books for Keeps, Dr Darren Chetty and Professor Karen Sands O’Connor trace how Black and racially minoritised characters have been represented in ‘the secret garden’ of British children’s literature from its earliest stages. Examining how children’s literature has both been shaped by, and shaped, prevailing attitudes towards people of colour, they take a thematic approach that offers contextual knowledge that will enrich how books are discussed with children.

Exhibitions

Arabella Yapp: Chasing Joy

Arabella Yapp The Euphoria of Diving into Water

Showing from Monday 3 March

Brixton Library, SW2 1JQ Exhibition available during Library opening hours

South London based Arabella Yapp studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths and Middlesex Universities.

Yapp finds inspiration in her immediate environment, life events and people she loves.

Her paintings are inhabited by tiny portraits of the people in her life which she illustrates by creating imaginary worlds.

She uses vibrant, pure, jewel- like colours and reflective effects, that remind viewers of sunshine and holidays.

She focuses on applying contrasting hues and tones, trying to make them “sing” and vibrate against each other, resulting in pure joy.

Exhibition Launch and Private View

Tuesday 4 March, 6pm

Further information: @arabellayapppaintings

Aleks Faust: Environ-Mental

Showing Saturday 1 March to Friday 21 March. Durning Library, SE11 4HF.

Exhibition available during Library opening hours.

Through composition, colour, harmony and contrast, artist and photographer Aleks Faust weaves irony and humour into a poetic exploration of urban life.

Faust draws parallels between how society discards objects and how individuals manage emotions, suggesting an implicit link between environmental and psychological well-being.

While ecological concerns resonate through the series, Faust remains an observer rather than a commentator. The work raises questions rather than providing answers, inviting viewers to interpret and reflect.

Further information: [email protected] https://aleksfaust.com/

Ringside! Lambeth, Astley’s and the Birth of British Circus.

Showing from 3 March to 12 April

Lambeth Archives, SW2 1ET

Exhibition available during Archive opening hours

A free exhibition at Lambeth Archives documenting Lambeth as the birthplace of circus.

Philip Astley opened his first “amphitheatre” on Westminster Bridge Road in 1770, featuring displays of trick riding interspersed with lofty tumbling.

The new exhibition, RINGSIDE!, also includes local circus competitors like Vauxhall Gardens and the Royal Circus, the travelling circuses such as Sanger’s and Smart’s who would pitch on Clapham and Streatham Commons, followed from the 1980s by their ‘new circus’ successors performing physical theatre without animal acts: companies like Archaos, Circus Burlesque and Ra-Ra Zoo.

Curators’ talks about the exhibition:

Saturday 15 March, 2.30pm with Charlie Holland

Thursday 27 March, 6.15pm with Jon Newman

Londoners Underground: Private Worlds in Public Spaces By Ben Chisnall

Showing until Mid-March

Clapham Library, SW4 7DB

Exhibition available during Library opening hours

Clapham Library is proud to present selections from a five-year project by London-based artist Ben Chisnall, observing the lives of his fellow city dwellers, the ordinary and not-so-ordinary, all doing that most mundane and levelling of all London activities: taking the Tube.

All works are painted in oil on hand-prepared wood panel. Paintings are offered for sale as listed and are sold framed.

Further information:

Instagram: @Londoners.Underground

Events for Children and Young People and Families

Munch Brunch, Story & Rhyme Time

Fridays: 28 February to 4 April (6 weeks), 10am to 12pm

Streatham Library, SW16 1PN

Do you have a child under 5? Are you feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis? Would you like to connect with other parents in a supportive environment? If so, sign up for Munch Brunch, Story & Rhyme Time today!

You will receive: A free brunch, Free Story & Rhyme Time, Free low-cost, no-cost activity ideas and Free books.

To book a place please contact: Angela Russell on 07508 074921. Email: [email protected]

Celebrate World Book Day 2025

Thursday 6 March

All Lambeth Libraries

Reading for fun is the single biggest indicator that a child will grow up to enjoy a happier and more successful life – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational backgrounds or their income. We believe children are more likely to read if they enjoy it, so we’re on a mission to encourage them to see reading as an entertaining, social and fun thing to do. We want more children to grow up with a life-long, life-changing habit of reading for fun, and all the benefits this brings. So, do one reading thing on World Book Day!

Free LEGO Robotics for Children

Discover the world of LEGO robotics with the LEGO League Explore! Come along to one of our taster sessions and start an exciting adventure: building, problem solving and experimenting with LEGO bricks and technology while having fun.

Monday 17 March, 4.15pm. West Norwood Library

Tuesday 18 March, 4.15pm. Streatham Library

Monday 24 March, 4.30pm. Minet Library

Tuesday 25 March, 4pm. Brixton Library

Saturday 29 March, 11.30am. Minet Library

Suitable for children aged 7 and above.

Find your Voice with MC Grammar

Thursday 27 March, 10.15am to 11.15am.

ONLINE: Booking via Eventbrite

Suitable for children aged 6 to 11

Drop the mic! Award-winning teacher, Sky Kids superstar, World Book Day ambassador and viral book-rapping sensation MC Grammar will be introducing his brand-new series, The Adventures of Rap Kid. Get ready to meet Z; his beatboxing sidekick, SFX; their super-slick teacher, Mr G; and his dawg, Pup Smoke, in a story about friendship, the power of words and finding your voice!

So grab your bling and your shades and make your way to this epic online event jam-packed with jokes, bangin’ tunes, and wicked rhymes! Let’s GO!

Dream BiG Performing Arts Programme

Fridays through to April

West Norwood Library, SE27 9JX Booking via Website

Join us for these new exiting opportunities for 11 to 15 year-olds. The Dream BiG Performing Arts bring two programmes where young people can express themselves through either music or drama whilst coming together to have fun and develop key personal and social skills. Both projects will integrate to produce a short film around the important subject of Joint Enterprise/Guilty by Association to educate our youth about the law. Through this exciting project, all participants will develop important transferable life skills and a change mindset to positive outlooks with inspirational role models to help open doors!

Dream BiG Music Creation Workshop, Fridays, 5.15pm to 6.30pm

Dream BiG Urban Films Club, Fridays, 6.45pm to 8pm

Please register for one of these exciting projects by completing this registration form. If you have any enquiries, please contact us either by telephone on 0208 676 3480 or email [email protected]

Chatterbooks

Tuesdays, 4pm. Brixton Library

Wednesdays, 4pm. West Norwood Library

Third Monday of each month, 4pm. Minet Library

Last Monday of each month, 4pm.

Carnegie Library

Calling all book-loving youngsters aged 7 to 11: come and chatter, get involved in fun and creative activities and choose new books to read.

Other Library Activities

Connecting People, Connecting Places

Friday 7 March 12pm to 1pm

Brixton Library, SW2 1JQ

Join The Yellow Danfo for an engaging discussion on urban transport as a culture catalyst: connecting people, connecting places.

Insightful discussions on the role of transport in bridging communities. Keynote speakers from the field of transport, including experts from The Institute for Transport Studies.

Who Should Attend? This event is open to all community members interested in urban development, cultural studies, and the role of transport in shaping our daily experiences. Free Entry. Open to All.

Book-a Librarian help with e-Visas

Do you or does someone you know need help with getting an e-visa which has now replaced the old immigration documents (biometric residence permits), biometric residence cards (BRC), endorsements in passports, such as stamps, and stickers in passports, such as entry clearance? You can book a session with one of our librarians or if you need more help come to one of the drop in sessions that will be running at South Lambeth Library in January. For more information on sessions email [email protected]

Knitting and Crochet Group

Every Wednesday

Minet Library, SE5 9QY

Booking via Eventbrite

Have you ever wanted to learn how to knit or crochet? Perhaps you’ve got the basics down but are looking to improve? Or maybe you just want to knit with some company. Why not join us on Wednesday mornings. Yarn, knitting and crochet needles provided but do bring your own if you have them! All levels welcome.

From our Friends

Black Culture Market – Spring Market

Saturday 1 March and Sunday 2 March, 11am to 5pm

Department Store, 248 Ferndale Road, SW9 8FR

Free Booking via Eventbrite

If you’re looking for gifts, cards, unique prints, jewellery, male grooming kits, skincare, clothes or other original accessories come down! This market truly embodies the community’s spirit as well as supports black businesses.

Orchitecture Brixton

Saturday 8 March, 1pm to 5pm

Lambeth Town Hall, SW2 1RW

Free Booking via TicketTailor

Step into a world where music and architecture unite in perfect harmony. This isn’t your typical concert! Orchitecture Brixton will transform the Town Hall into a living, breathing symphony, where you can walk amongst the musicians as they perform. It’s a chance to see, hear, and feel the music up close in a completely new way.

Professional musicians from Chineke! Foundation will perform the Othello Suite alongside their talented junior orchestra and local young musicians from Lambeth Music Service, conducted by Enyi Okpara, to create a sensory masterpiece that celebrates diversity, creativity, and community.