Presenter, actor, comedian and author David Walliams visited the newly opened West Norwood Library, to meet local school children and help us launch the new design – which features artwork from his books.
The visit, with children from Julian’s, Kingswood and Hitherfield primary schools, also marked David’s 10th anniversary of writing.
All the children who came along got a special edition copy of one of David’s most popular books, Mr Stink.
What better place to host such a high profile visitor than the new library in the heart of West Norwood?
Opened only a few weeks ago, it is already proving incredibly popular, with a wonderful children’s library, a huge selection of books, an IT suite with free computer access and wifi and lots more, helping our fantastic librarians make reading and learning accessible to all. That’s not even mentioning the four-screen cinema in the same building!
Some comments from the children:
Idun (Yr6): “It was inspiring. The story he told about his big sister dressing him up – you can make a story about something out of the ordinary, something that has a moral in it. I enjoyed it very much because we got really good books at the end and we got to meet the real David Williams”.
Tilly (Yr5): I was so excited when he came in! I was thinking it might be a person dressed up like him, not really him. He told us you can be any age to write – old or young. Even if you just went on a bus, you can find things to write about, things that make you smile.”
Shahida (Yr 6): He’s very tall. I wasn’t expecting him to be so tall!”
Shamelia (Yr 6): “It was brilliant. He was funny. I’ve seen him on Britain’s Got Talent and he makes me laugh.”
Kelly Foster, Acting Headteacher at the Gipsy Hill Federation said: “The children were buzzing and haven’t stopped discussing it all day. They are all now adding David’s books to their Christmas lists!”
