LATEST NEWS

Please check the Summertown Library website for opening hours.

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The popular series of talks organised by the Friends of Summertown Library  by local writers and speakers on topical topics has now returned to the Library on Thursdays at 6pm and notices about future lectures are below:

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FORTHCOMING TALKS:​

Thursday 28th May at 6pm

George Brownlee about

 "Unravelling our Genes - the story of the man who revealed how we are made"

Retired biochemistry professor, George Brownlee will draw on his own biography of Fred Sanger - the only man to win two Nobel prizes - to chart how Sanger revolutionised our understanding of how humans are made, opening doors to many medical innovations - including gene therapy.

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George Brownlee is a British biochemist and academic, who contributed to the development of Ribonucleic acid (molecule essential for life, carrying genetic instructions, regulating genes, and building proteins) sequencing methods in the 1960s. He is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology in the Dunn School at Oxford. He gained his PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, working with Nobel-prizewinner Fred Sanger on the sequencing of small RNAs.​​

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Admission free, but voluntary donations to the work of the Friends will continue to help the Library. May we suggest £10? There will be a basket near the seating area during talks.​​​​

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We regret that the talk by ​​​​​​

KATE KENNEDY about

 "Cello - The Lives of Four Cellists and their Instruments"

due to take place on 

Thursday 30th January 2025 has had to be postponed again. We will let you

know the new date as soon as possible.

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Kate is a writer, Radio 3 broadcaster and cellist. She studied at Cambridge and the Royal College of Music. She has played with period instruments throughout the UK and has held fellowships in Music and English Literature at both Cambridge and Oxford, where she is a Research Fellow at Wolfson College. Her most recent book Cello – A Journey Through Silence to Sound was published by Bloomsbury in August to international acclaim.

Based on her recent book, Kate recounts her love of the cello through moving accounts of cellos and cellists, including life-saving stories and those of instruments lost and found. Drawing on her adventures across Europe with her own cello, Kate extols a player’s intense and personal relationship with their instrument.

Copies of her book will be on sale after the talk.

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Previous  Talks:

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Thursday 23rd April 

Elleke Boehmer  talked about

 "Exploring the Far Edge of the World"

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Thursday 5th March

Dr Nick Maynard talked about

"Gaza - A War on Healthcare" 

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Thursday 6th December

Robert Fox talked about

“Charles Darwin - Voyager and Reluctant Revolutionary" 

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Thursday 16th October

LUKA IVAN JUKIC talked about

"Central Europe: The Death of a Civilization and the Life of an Idea"

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Thursday 2nd October

DEBORAH BRYCESON and GARETH WINROW talked about "Suburban Evolution of Summertown: Living in the Shadow of Oxford

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Thursday 19th June

Richard Cooper talked about

“Dante's Divine Comedy: ideas of pure love and fiery hell, yesterday and today” 

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Thursday 8th May

Jane Bingham talked about  "Light, Colour, Story! A Virtual Tour of Oxford’s Stained-Glass Windows"

 

ALICE PROCHASKA  Chair of Book Aid International. talked about

"Libraries Under Attack"

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Thursday 13th March 

MARCUS FERRAR ex Reuter's correspondent talked about

 "50 years on: The Revolution in Portugal"

A SPECIAL EVENT: was held onThursday 13th February:​

​"The Best Book I Read Last Year"

​This joint event of Writers in Oxford 

https://www.writersinoxford.org and
Friends of Summertown Library
offered a chance to celebrate and share the joys of reading. 

Thursday 12th December

MARCUS FERRAR ex Reuter's correspondent talked about

 "50 years on: The Revolution in Portugal"

Thursday 10th October

WILL HUTTON British journalist, author and academic talked about

 "How to Remake Britain"​

Thursday 16 May

PAUL FLATHER former chair of the Oxford Adam von Trott Memorial Committee,journalist and human rights activist talked about

"Adam von Trott"

Thursday 22 February

TOM FLETCHER

principle of Hertford College, Oxford and a former UK ambassador in Lebanon talked about "The Middle East - What can we hope for"

Thursday 11th January

TIMOTHY GARTON ASH, writer and historian talked about "Homelands - a Personal History of Europe".

Thursday 14th December

MARTIN WAINWRIGHT, retired reporter on the Guardian and Northern Editor in Manchester

talked about fake news in"What is Truth? - The Challenge of Providing Context to News"

Thursday 9th November

VIVIAN SIEBER

told her family story in   "Kino and Kinder" about her Grandmother's cinema in Vienna before the Anschluss and subsequent life in Britain.

Thursday19th October

RAYMOND PIERREHUMBERT

a Professor of Physics at Oxford University and a member of the Royal Society talked about  "Planetary Systems - A Beginner's Guide"

Thursday18th May

 ROSAMUND BARTLETT

- a writer and translator talked about

"Chekhov and Tolstoy - and why we need to keep reading Russian literature."

Thursday 23rd March

 ANGELA FINDLAY

- an Anglo-German artist and public speaker who has spent much of her career teaching art in prisons.

talked about  "In My Grandfather’s Shadow: a story of war, trauma and the legacy of silence"

Thursday 2nd March

 MARCUS FERRAR

- a former Reuters correspondent who reported from behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War. He is the author of books on Germany, Eastern Europe and freedom.He is also Chairman of the Friends of Summertown Library. He talked about "Russia's Disaster" 
- a talk on Russia and the Russians in the light of the war against Ukraine

Thursday 26th January

 PAUL BALLARD-WHYTE  -

Head of History and rugby coach at an Oxfordshire prep school, a successful businessman, parliamentary candidate,  Formula 2000 racing driver, Scottish Superkart champion and an epée bronze medallist. He talked about l "Lucky Hitler's Big Mistakes" 
- an exposé of Hitler’s true strengths and secret weaknesses

Thursday 8th December 2022

MARGARET BULLARD - Diplomatic wife

talked about,

"Endangered Species: Diplomacy from the Passenger Seat"

Thursday 17th November,

GARETH WINROW - Gareth lived and worked in Turkey for 20 years where he was a Professor of International Relations. More recently he has focused on local, family and social history. He talked about 'The Butcher, The Tailor, The Picture-Frame Maker - Stories of Middle Way"dle W

Thursday 27th October 2022

REBECCA ABRAMS - award-winning author and journalist. She is a regular literary critic for the Financial Times and teaches creative writing at Oxford University talked about

"Licoricia of Winchester - Power and Prejudice in Medieval England"

Wednesday 1st June 2022

CHRISTOPHER DANZIGER - former Head of History at St Edward’s School,  a lecturer at the universities of Durham and Cape Town a tutor in the O.U. Department of Continuing Education talked about

"882 A.D. - the Origin of Putin's Ukrainian War?"

Thursday 4th November 2021

MARCUS FERRAR - former Reuters correspondent and author

talked about  "Half a Century in Tuscany:

the lure of adventure, the colourful characters, the wild nature, his vineyard – and why he put an end to it.

Thursday 13th May 2021

MAJOR NICOLA WETHERILL- expedition leader for 'Ice Maiden' talked about  "Expedition Ice Maiden: The First All-Female Team to cross Antarctica"

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Thursday 15th April 2021

LORD JAY of EWELME- a career Diplomat talked about "The House of Lords: Past, Present and...Future?"

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Thursday 18th March 2021

PAUL CRAIG - Emeritus Professor of English Law  talked about "UK - EU Relations post-Brexit".

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Thursday 18th February 2021

PAUL NURSE - world-renowned geneticist and cell biologist and Director of the Francis Crick Institute who has served as President of the Royal Society  talked about "What is Life?" 

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Thursday 14th January 2021

ARCHIE BROWN - Oxford Emeritus Professor of Politics, and advisor on the Soviet Union to Margaret Thatcher  talked about "Gorbachev, Reagan, and Thatcher, and the End of the Cold War" 

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Thursday 10th December 2020

SINCLAIR MACKAY - a features writer for The Spectator and The Telegraph. talked about "Bletchley Park - A Hothouse of Talents. What happened to those Codebreakers after the War?" 

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Thursday 13th February 2020

ROBIN WILSON - Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University talked about "Sir Isaac Newton - his life, labours and legacy".

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Thursday 23rd January 2020

DAVID ROONEY - an award-winning museum curator, writer and historian of time, cities, technology and engineering talked about "The History of Time".

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Thursday 5th December 2019

PETER LANTOS - a highly successful neuroscientist and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences talked about "Parallel Lines" - a childhood journey to Belsen and life thereafter.

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Thursday 14th November 2019

PROFESSOR SIR ADAM ROBERTS - who holds a number of senior academic posts and whose main interests are in the fields of international security, international organizations, and international law talked about 'Civil Resistance - from Prague to Hong Kong'

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​​​​​17 October 2019

​REBECCA ABRAMS - an award-winning author, teacher and literary journalist talked about 'The Jewish Journey' -

told through 22 Objects from the Ashmolean Museum .

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16 May 2019

​MARCUS FERRAR - a former Reuters correspondent and author of books about Germany, Eastern Europe and freedom talked about 'Dresden: the destruction and renewal of a European jewel.'

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4 April 2019

HENRY MACRORY- Deputy and Acting Editor of the Sunday Express talked about ' Rise and Falls of Whitaker Wright, Britain's most shameless swindler.

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7 March 2019 

ALASTAIR LACK  - After 26 years making TV and radio programmes for the BBC, mainly with the World Service,  talked about some of its history, his travels and the people he met.

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4 February 2019

BART VAN ES -Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and author

talked about his recent book 'The Cut Out Girl' -A Childhood in Hiding

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13 December 2018

Futurist SOPHIE HACKFORD looked at the role of Artificial Intelligence and talked about its future.

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16 November 2018

In her Talk last night, astronomer REBECCA BOWLER took us back billions of years to the earliest years of the universe. Wonderfully illustrated and delivered, with more questions from the floor than on any previous occasion. Our audience  of 50 donated £370 to the Friends' funds. Thank you!

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22 October 2018

A large appreciative audience enjoyed a fascinating Talk on 10 October by Deborah Gill. Superb slides (using our new projector and screen) explained the nature of genome research and illustrated the context, and advances being made, in her area of study. 

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10 October 2018

Library Talk tomorrow at 6 pm: 'Gene Medicine - A Brave New World?' by Professor Deborah Gill. See for details.

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28 September 2018

At a reception in the Library last night, a large group of Friends celebrated the completion of the Library's renovation. More than £90,000 has been raised to make this possible, with the active support of Oxford County Council. 

 

16 July 2018

A great day! The Library re-opened today after six weeks of work internally and externally, altogether costing over £100,000.

 

Substantially funded by the Friends, after several years of fund-raising, our new-look library is more welcoming, has better facilities for work and leisure, and a much improved Children's section overlooking the Turrill Sculpture Garden.

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• Very many thanks to all who have contributed to this happy outcome: donors of money and Topical Talks, the Library staff, and OCC Library Services which have contributed both funds and much effort in support of the project.

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Do visit Summertown Library to have a look and leave any comment or suggestion in the book at the service desk. We will listen to all you have to say as we continue our work to make the Library even more attractive and useful to our Summertown community.

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22 May 2018

In response to an appeal to our supporters, 30 people have so far generously purchased a new chair for Library meetings and other events. 

• We want to afford 60 new chairs in all. Please consider purchasing a chair, if you have not already done so.  

• A cheque for £60 for a chair, payable to Friends of Summertown Library, may be sent to Mark Holland at the address at the foot of this column.

 

Thank you!

 

15 May 2018

The Friends are delighted to have now raised £93,000, enough to pay for the refit of the Library after several years of fund-raising. 

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With some additional funding from OCC Library Services, work will start on 4 June, taking six weeks to complete. During this period the Library will be closed. The Library will re-open on 16 July.

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In addition to the planned internal refit, the Library forecourt will be much improved - with a dedicated Disability parking space, new cycle racks and a new fascia. 

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A formal re-opening is planned for late September 2018.

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