Petition Number: P-06-1282 Petition title: Create a National Poetry Library of Wales Text of petition: Currently, England has 2 and Scotland has 1 but Cymru – “gwlad beirdd a chantorion” – has none. This lack of a National Poetry Library of Wales is a gap in our cultural, national life. Though the National Library in Aberystwyth is an excellent institution, it’s not yet a place that helps poetry blossom. Only a dedicated Poetry Library can be the archive for some of our oldest poetry, be the place of pilgrimage & growth for our poets, and be an institution that bridges our bilingual poetic traditions.

 

 

1.        Background

Currently there is a National Poetry Library  in the South Bank Centre in London, which is a national library for the UK[1]. England also hosts the Northern Poetry Library in Morpeth, Northumberland and the Manchester Poetry Library. There is a Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh.

The National Library in Aberystwyth was established by Royal Charter in 1907, and is a registered charity and Welsh Government sponsored body. It receives £12.3 million of revenue funding annually from the Welsh Government. The National Library of Wales' purpose is to make Wales’s culture and heritage accessible to all to learn, research and enjoy. It is a legal deposit library, meaning it has the right to a copy of every publication printed in Britain and Ireland.

2.     Welsh Government action

The Welsh Government’s response to this petition says that it has met with the petitioner. As the project has the potential to address a number of commitments in the Programme for Government the Welsh Government has requested a proposal for a National Library, which it has not yet received.  

3.     Welsh Parliament action

A proposal for a National Poetry Library has not been considered by the Senedd’s Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee, or the previous Senedd’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.

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