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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <a
class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/25/uk-libraries-become-death-positive-with-books-and-art-on-dying?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks">theguardian.com</a>
<h1 class="reader-title">UK libraries become ‘death positive’ with
books and art on dying</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Miranda Bryant</div>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">4-5 minutes</div>
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<p>In the middle of Redbridge Central Library in Ilford,
among all the bookshelves and displays, is a phrase that
may surprise some visitors: “The death positive library.”</p>
<p>The sign sits above a collection curated to help people
deal with death, dying and loss, including books by former
England footballer Rio Ferdinand, the late American
novelist Toni Morrison and anthropologist Sue Black.</p>
<p>The initiative, intended to encourage people to talk
about death and dying, is not simply about book
recommendations. Death Positive Libraries, a scheme that
started in Redbridge in 2018, uses activities, art and
literature to remove barriers to talking about the subject
– including reading groups, author talks, film screenings,
art installations and <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/22/death-cafe-talk-about-dying"
data-link-name="in body link">“death cafes”</a> where
people can meet for conversation.</p>
<figure id="e3999364-13aa-497c-b3f1-3da5e83aebaa"></figure>
<p>Redbridge is one of three library services in the UK –
the others being Newcastle and Kirklees – to have joined
the initiative. And now, as the pandemic death toll
continues to rise, it is set to be rolled out nationwide.</p>
<p>So far 58 libraries have expressed their interest to the
charity <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/libraries"
data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body
link">Libraries</a> Connected which is working with the
three libraries and academics from the University of
Northumbria on a framework to help all libraries become
death positive.</p>
<p>Even though libraries have not been able to physically
open throughout the whole of the pandemic, there has been
huge demand for them, said Anita Luby, head of cultural
services at Redbridge. More than 5,000 people have
attended their digital events in the last year.</p>
<p>“In the current climate, we have been prompted to think
more about loss: the loss of normality, loss of work or
income, and the loss of loved ones,” she said in the
Libraries Connected proposal. “It’s well understood that
we’re all going to die but the problem is that we just
don’t talk about it. We avoid planning for it and feel
awkward around people who are grieving. In our society,
death is an even bigger taboo than sex.”</p>
<p>Victoria Dilly, future funding project manager at
Libraries Connected, said: “Libraries can be that safe
trusted space in the community to have conversations that
might not always be welcome in every area of society …
Having a space where those conversations can happen with
caring staff on hand to support is actually really
powerful.”</p>
<p>Luby said 60% of participants said they felt more
comfortable talking about death in a library.</p>
<p>Dr Stacey Pitsillides, vice-chancellor’s senior research
fellow in the school of design at Northumbria University,
has created online and physical works that encourage
people to engage with the subject. She said literature,
art and design offered “gentle entrance points into what
is a vast, complex, difficult, challenging and traumatic
topic at times.”</p>
<figure id="0a018e73-8ecd-4c6d-8372-a311422fe22f"></figure>
<p>She added: “Particularly in a pandemic and particularly
in this time when we all are quite traumatised by it,
these gentle entrance ways are so important to get people
to see it as a part of society. And the libraries can be
part of that because they are a gentle and sensitive part
of society, they’re something that sits within the
community.”</p>
<p>Kirklees Libraries said their online death-positive
events have attracted a global audience during the
pandemic. Katie Hornby, a customer service manager, said
that when they started the project, they “had no idea how
relevant and important this work would become in the face
of the pandemic”.</p>
<p>At Redbridge Central library cafe, accountant Kay Rawson,
57, said she had never heard of the concept of “death
positive” before, but agrees that it should be talked
about more and that libraries are a good place for it. “I
think I’m naturally death positive. It shouldn’t always be
a difficult subject to discuss.”</p>
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