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The British Library is to work with childrens book centre Seven Stories and five public library services on a key project for the Cultural Olympiad, unveiled today.
The project, Stories of the World, will also involve major museums across the country and is being led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), together with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympics Games (LOCOG).
Stories of the World will consist of a series of exhibitions focussing on how individual objects tell the histories of the people and communities who live in the UK, who have often travelled here from all areas of the globe. Professional curators will take a back seat, as young people are being brought in to co-curate, exploring their own family backgrounds through the exhibitions.
In the British Library project, called In Your Own Words, young people across the country will choose individual books and manuscripts to explore themes of migration, love, death and family. The Library's head of learning Roger Walshe said the BL would be working with Newcastle-based Seven Stories to incorporate themes of childhood and family, and also with major city libraries, still being finalised.
Roy Clare, chief executive of the MLA, said: "Stories of the World gives us a unique opportunity to demonstrate that creativity and innovation are at the heart of museums, libraries and archives."
Public events for Stories of the World will begin in spring 2010 and continue forward to the Olympics in 2012.