As The Last Word celebrates its first anniversary as a community hub, we’re looking back at a year that has redefined what it means to be a space for the community.
What is The Last Word?
Last December we transformed The Last Word from a café into a community hub. When we opened our doors we had a vision: to create more than just a gathering space. We wanted to build a bridge between our vast collection and the rich, diverse stories of our local community in Camden and Somers Town. Yes, visitors still occasionally mistake us for a café – but these days, they're more likely to stay for shared stories than a flat white!
Connecting through stories
Throughout the year, The Last Word has become a space for community creativity and connection. Every Thursday morning, it transforms into a magical realm as Kindle Corner fills it with butterfly costumes, bubbles and storytelling for our youngest visitors. Tuesday evenings see neighbours becoming friends over shared meals at Think & Do's Sharing Spaces, while C4WS's monthly Sunday Film Club has turned strangers into cinema buddies.
Collaborating with partners
But our work goes beyond hosting events – we're creating a living archive of community stories that complement the Library's collection. Age UK Camden made themselves at home for their monthly book club, engaging in lively conversation over unique and exciting titles. And our collaboration with Hopscotch Women’s Centre led to Our Unheard Journey, a display created in partnership with migrant women from Afghanistan, as part of Refugee Week. We've become a space where local organisations can showcase their work, where neighbours can launch their own projects, and where everyone's story is heard.
Looking to the future
What makes The Last Word special isn't just the activities we host or the resources we share – it's the way our community has embraced this space as their own. Whether you're exploring our archives, participating in a workshop, or simply stopping by for a chat, you're adding your chapter to our collective story.
As we blow out our first birthday candle, we're reminded that The Last Word is more than a community hub – it's a testament to the power of creating spaces where stories can be shared, connections can be forged, and community can thrive. Here's to many more years of weaving stories together!
If you’re local pop in to The Last Word and see how you can get involved. Or contact us at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you.
Young Creators Lab is a pioneering digital content programme for 18 – 24 year olds at the British Library, generously supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust. It gives young people a platform to create new content for our social media channels, sparking conversations inspired by our collection while also providing expert skills and training. And through this programme, we hope to empower other young people around the world to help them confront the global challenges we face today and in the future.
Discover some of the stories our young creators have uncovered so far
Kicking off in June 2024, Young Creators Lab welcomed our first cohort of talented young creators behind the scenes at the Library to make content inspired by our collection and summer exhibition, Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music.
From exploring the hidden significance of everyday objects such as stamps and the humble cardboard box, to tracing the evolution of music sampling and exploring the cross section of music and fashion, the group have showcased fascinating stories across a broad range of subjects, both for short films on TikTok and documentary style films for YouTube, which have been viewed over 450,000 times by audiences all over the world.
Highlights on TikTok
Young Creators Sanya and Elsie explore the story of Caribbean postal stamps, designed to celebrate the decriminalisation of carnival in the Islands.
@britishlibrary From royalty to rebellion – ever wondered about the history behind the humble postage stamp? ✉️ In the next of their series, our Young Creators Sanya and Elsie dive into Caribbean postal stamps, originally made to celebrate the decriminalisation of carnival in the Islands. Stay tuned as they uncover more hidden stories behind everyday objects! Young Creators Lab is a digital project for 18-24 year olds, supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust. #britishlibrary#library#stamps#postagestamps#youngcreators#youngcreatorslab#carnival#caribbean♬ Cat's life - kunee
Abraham, Christine and Joshua take us on a journey of music sampling, exploring how The Blackbyrds’ Mysterious Vibes has been sampled and interpolated by artists from the 1970s to today (part 1 of 3).
"Young people have so much knowledge in what’s current, so using those skills coupled with the huge wealth of knowledge available to discover at the Library enabled us to bring these stories to light and help them reach new audiences." Sanya, Young Creator (2024)
Developing filmmakers Image
Next, our young creators dived deeper into our collection as we tasked them with creating documentary style films for YouTube, using archive items from our collection as a jumping off point. One group explored the life and legacy of African American dancer and activist Kathryn Dunham, who pioneered a new style fusing ballet with traditional Afro-Caribbean dances. Meanwhile, our second group examined original music scores by Beethoven, Schubert and Ethel Smyth, looking at how each piece of music had a profound impact on contemporary society and became anthems in their day.
Each group met with expert curators from our archives, before setting about storyboarding and scripting their documentaries. Our young creators then went to a professional film studio in London, courtesy of Chocolate Films, to record their documentaries. They also used our image database and stock footage to bring the films to life.
Lara, one of the creators on the programme, said initially her group found it challenging to approach the subject matter for a young, contemporary audience: “How can you make music written in the 19th century relevant to people 200 years later? The clue was in the stories told by the composers and the reception of it in its historical context… We realised that for audiences at the time, these pieces were not ‘classical’ – they were contemporary. The past is always influencing and connecting with the present in some way.” Lara, Young Creator (2024).
Celebrating creativity and connection
Keith Afadi, Muinat Abdul, Charlotte Horobin and Young Creators Christine and Natalie at the Young Creators Lab: Social Network event, October 2024. Photo by Chocolate Films.
To celebrate the end of the first programme in October, we hosted a free event at the Library in St Pancras for young people to come and network and share ideas. The event featured film screenings of our Young Creators’ films, pop up creative stations and an insightful panel talk on the future of social media for emerging creatives, featuring content creators Keith Afadi and Muinat Abdul and our own Social Media Manager, Charlotte Horobin. Audiences tuned in from around the world on TikTok too!
"Engaging with heritage is crucial for young people because it helps us uncover our roots, understand the origin of things and learn why certain traditions and practices exist." DeMarkay, Young Creator (2024)
What’s next?
For many of the young people on the programme, Young Creators Lab has given them the inspiration, skills and confidence to start their own content series, find long-term collaborators and even perform on stage! We’ll be keeping a close eye on what they do next, and welcoming them back to the Library in the future.
Young Creators Lab will run again from January – April 2025, inspiring another group of 18 – 24 year olds to start new conversations online through the lens of our collection. If you’re interested in taking part then find out more. Applications are open from 9 December 2024 – 6 January 2025.
You can also email the team on [email protected] for more information.
Young Creators Lab is generously supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust