Cheerful art project brightens Long Buckby Library

Volunteers used their lockdown time last year brightening the library with depictions of the changing seasons.

Long Buckby residents Norman How and Maria Summerscale collaborted on a project.

Norman said: "The long spells of lockdown last year provided the opportunity for people to work on various projects.

"Maria and I both enjoy painting so we decided to collaborate on a project to brighten the building interior by relating a narrative about the countryside around Long Buckby through the changing seasons, in the form of a series of four large paintings.

"The background for each painting has been inspired by a different local view populated by the creatures, plants and human activities that can be imagined there. The aim was to produce something that is bright, attractive, cheerful and informative."

He said the management and ethos of a library is also changing, better to meet villagers’ needs, interests and roles.

Long Buckby Library, recently run by Northampton County Council and threatened with closure, is now independently run as a community managed library and supported by West Northamptonshire Council and Long Buckby Parish Council.