Young filmmakers put Isle of Wight libraries in the spotlight with new Creative Island project

Creative Island has spent the past year working on Connecting Libraries, a project developed in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council’s Library Service, with support from Arts Council England and Quay Arts.

Project Producer Lisa Kerley managed the initiative, which set out with an ambitious aim: for libraries to gain recognition as collaborative, innovative spaces capable of meeting the needs of future generations.

Four partnerships, four projects
The project delivered four bespoke mini-projects, each pairing a library with a distinct community partner to reach diverse groups of young people.

This week, Creative Island shares the results of one of those partnerships – a filmmaking project developed with Christ the King College and Quay Arts.

The project responded directly to a gap uncovered through a survey of 300 pupils and a series of local youth consultations, which found that many young people had little awareness of the resources and memberships their local libraries offer.

A term-long journey across the Island
Under the guidance of local filmmaker Sam Lapham, and with support from Quay Arts and Education Director Claire Paul, ten pupils from Christ the King College spent a full term exploring what libraries mean to the next generation.

The group visited five different libraries across the Island, interviewing staff and capturing footage along the way.

Claire Paul reflected warmly on the experience, saying,

“It was so wonderful to see how enthused our young filmmakers were about the Island’s libraries. I look forward to witnessing the influence their film has on attracting other young people into libraries in the future.”

Learning from young people
Development Librarian and Lead for Outreach and Promotion, Louise Emery, highlighted how much the library service gained from the collaboration. Louise said,

“It has been a fantastic opportunity to work alongside young adults to explore the ways they would like to interact with, and benefit from, our services and we feel like we have learned a lot from them about the types of activities they would like more of in libraries.”

Louise added that the project had strengthened ties beyond just the young participants,

“It has definitely achieved its aim of strengthening our relationships with both young adults in the community and helped us to forge new connections with other cultural organisations.”

Proud pupils, proud school
Andrew Montrose, Headteacher at Christ the King College, expressed pride in the students who took part.

“I am very proud of the group of pupils who have taken part in this important project with Creative Island.

“They embody many of the values we stand for at Christ the King College: advocacy, community and collaboration.”

Mr Montrose confirmed the school’s enthusiasm for continuing the relationship,

“We look forward to working with Creative Island over the coming months on a number of other collaborative projects and exploring what else our young people have to say about the things that matter most to them.”

What happens next
Creative Island recognises the unique role libraries play in community life as public, accessible, and valued spaces, and extends its gratitude to every pupil who got involved and who continues to engage with their local library’s resources.

The film will now go out to all Island schools as an educational resource, with the aim of sparking peer-led discussions and ensuring every young person knows how to access the services their local library provides.