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Dark wooden shelves crammed with old books in a lamp-lit library room
Photograph: Portico Library

Manchester is a City of Literature by UNESCO

The city's literary heritage is celebrated by UNESCO as Manchester joins like likes of Barcelona, Melbourne and Dublin

Rob Martin
Written by
Rob Martin
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In 2004, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, launched their Creative Cities Network and part of that programme is the recognition of cities with outstanding literary heritage. 

Manchester is one of those cities and has been since 2017. 

And whilst part of it is a celebration of great writers and their work, incredible libraries, unknown stories and places, it's also about creating some great things to do based on literature. It's not all just about some dusty old books, you know...

 

City of Literature Things to Do

Take a tour
Photograph: Rob Martin

Take a tour

Join a tour of some of the city's most impressive and iconic libraries. Local guide Jonathan Schofield will be showing you around Central Library, Portico Library, John Rylands Library and Chetham’s Library. Maybe you'll catch sight of the devil's footprint there...

Meet at Central Library, Friday June 17

A week of events celebrating all that goes into making Manchester's 133 libraries hives of information, activity and community. There's a look for the book treasure hunt, an ‘inspired by’ s with the like of Guy Garvey and Julie Hesmondhalgh, plus talks, family events and loads more.

Wednesday June 15 - Sunday June 19


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Nothing expands the mind of a child like a beloved book. From Paddington to The Gruffalo, literature has long been the place where a child's imagination takes flight. From story walks in gardens, a book-inspired infant mental health week, make your own book-mark events and much more, there'll be ongoing family activity throughout the year.

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