“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”

I did it! I completed one of my New Year’s Resolutions.

Not to be confused with Sewlutions. These are things I wanted to do outside of sewing.

(Though this one has yielded sewing related benefits.)

I signed up with Leeds Library!

I’m talking about the city’s main public library which is handily placed smack bang alongside the art gallery.

Leeds Central Library building was completed in 1884 and is Grade two listed.

The library’s interior is so beautiful and impressive; there are tiled floors and large white pillars lining the staircases made of 380 million year old Devonian coral reef.

Wrap your brain around that for a minute.

I love it in there. It’s so calming and inspirational whether you’re in the library, the tiled hall or the art gallery.

As well as having a pleasing amount of general interest books to loan, it also has a specialist art library, as well as a specialist music and performing arts section and an extensive collection of local and family history.

I made a beeline for was the cinema and tv section and then the FASHION SECTION woooooo.

Signing up? Less than 5 minutes.

I sat for 10 minutes gazing at Elizabeth Taylor: A Life In Pictures 

Then I picked up a delightfully bemusing book on recreating the vintage style of your favourite film and music stars, and a fab looking analysis on the stylistic reboot of James Bond since Daniel Craig took the role.

Feeling smug I went up to the art library. This contains art history, architecture, photography, fashion, sculpting, printmaking and much more. It was paradise.

I picked out:

• Print In Fashion — A book on print and design in textile development which I’m hoping will inspire me to make some designs of my own.
• Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting — in preparation for the pattern drafting classes I’ve booked myself onto.
• Fashion A-Z: An Illustrated Dictionary — this is a lovely way to brush up on my terminology.
• The Merchant and Mills Sewing Book — this beautiful book has excellent tips and a few projects.
• Fashion: The 50 most Influential Fashion Designers in the World — excellent photographs and biographies of the key designers in fashion’s history.

Fast forward to me sitting at home in the yummy sunshine flicking through all my books.

Lovely stuff.

I’ll leave you with this lovely quote that I hope encourages everyone to use their library…

“[D]on’t ever apologise to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that’s what they’re there for. Use your library). Don’t apologise to an author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend’s copy. What’s important is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read.” ― Neil Gaiman