Lincolnshire Libraries World Book Day Costume Swap and Create Project launches in 14 locations
Parents can take part in a costume swap shop to help ease the burden of fancy dress for World Book Day.
The Lincolnshire Libraries World Book Day Costume Swap and Create Project launches tomorrow (Thursday February 6) in 14 locations — and parents are invited to take along past costumes to donate and swap for something ‘new to them’ for their child to wear this year.
World Book Day is on March 6 and in recent years has been marked in many schools with children dressing as characters from their favourite stories — a matter that can be stressful and expensive for parents.
It’s hoped that this project can remove some of the worry and cost involved — and it stems from a previous collaboration between Lincoln Central Library and the Lincoln Sustainable Fashion Forum in 2024.
It is being rolled out across more Lincolnshire libraries this year with funding from Libraries Connected and Arts Council England’s Microgrant programme.
The libraries taking part - run by charitable social enterprise GLL - are Boston, Gainsborough, Grantham, Horncastle, Lincoln Central, Long Sutton, Louth, Market Rasen, Mablethorpe, Skegness, Sleaford, Spalding, Stamford and Woodhall Spa.
As well as swap rails, the libraries will host free ‘costume creator’ sessions in half term to help children to make their own costumes.
Parents can book their child onto these sessions here — and each offers materials, templates and support for four different book themed costumes so that families can work together to create their own costume.
Lastly, for busy parents ‘up against it’, there are ‘emergency packs’ which can be picked up from all fourteen libraries from the week commencing February 17.
The packs will include simple and quick last-minute costume ideas that will transform a child’s everyday clothes into a character from a book.
The emergency pack also includes recommended reads, chosen especially by library staff, to help parents ensure stories truly capture their child’s imagination and grow their love of reading.
Nicola Rogers, GLL’s Lincolnshire Libraries Partnership Manager, said: “For parents who are time poor, lacking creative confidence, or finding it difficult to cover, cost-wise, World Book Day can sometimes not be the celebratory event it should be.
“In February 2024, working with the Lincoln Sustainable Fashion Forum, Lincoln Central Library hosted a costume swap where parents could swap gently used costumes their child had grown out of for a ‘new to them’ costume ready for World Book Day.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive with many parents commenting that it was a life saver. Following demand after social media posts, swaps were set up at two other libraries in late February, which were also incredibly popular.
“So this year, we’ve used that experience to create the Lincolnshire Libraries World Book Day Costume Swap and Create project making it even more accessible, by holding it across 14 of our libraries. We want the benefits of books and reading to be at the fore this World Book Day, rather than the worry of costume making.”
Lincolnshire Libraries received £1,800 in funding to get the scheme off the ground.
Lincolnshire Libraries, run by GLL, the not-for-profit social enterprise, on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council, run core and mobile libraries across the county as well as supporting 34 community hubs.
