Professional wrestlers will perform well-known stories at Keighley Library in a free family event combining wrestling with reading.
The Read-a-Slam event features fighters acting out tales including Jack and the Beanstalk and Theseus and the Minotaur. The event is part of the National Year of Reading programme at Bradford Libraries and is delivered in partnership with Kingdom Wrestling.
Bringing Stories to Life
Gareth Thompson, CEO and founder of Kingdom Wrestling, said the event offers a new way to engage readers.
"It just brings their imagination to life in a way that you just could not do just from reading alone," Thompson said.
Thompson explained that wrestling and reading share common ground when presented to children. "If you want to engage children, we look at it as storytelling - the good guy, the bad guy, the fight between good and evil, the funny stuff that we can script and play around with," he said.
"It is just a way to get them to really feel the story, for them to then want to go away and read the book after and really get into it. It will help their imagination to be able to visualise how small Jack was versus how big this giant can be and what would have happened if the giant got a hold of him."
Libraries as Creative Spaces
Andrea Hardaker, digital development officer at Bradford Libraries, said the event aims to change perceptions of libraries.
"We want people to know that libraries are not these boring stuffy buildings, that we have lots of fun events on for all ages, from birth right through to your old age, we will have something for you," Hardaker said.
She added that Bradford Libraries puts on free events designed to interest local audiences. "We are keeping up with the times and particularly in Bradford, we go out of our way to put on events that will interest people and they tend to be free," she said.
Thompson said his aim is to see families enjoying the performance and engaging with stories together. "What I want to see at the end of tomorrow, is not just a packed house full of loads of young people enjoying the show, but I want to see kids and their parents engaging with stories," he said.