Plan B plays it loud in Rugby library
A national Get it Loud campaign, supported by Warwickshire County Council to promote live music and attract younger audiences into public libraries, brought a star performer to Rugby this week.
Plan B (real name Ben Drew) performed at Rugby Library on Tuesday evening (March 23) as part of his acoustic tour to promote his album and the 200-ticket event was a sell-out. A rapper, actor and film-maker, Plan B has been called the ‘British Eminem’. His music tackles difficult topics like drugs, rape and under-age sex.
The Get it Loud project was the brainchild of Stewart Parsons of Lancashire Libraries, it has won national support from the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives) and is now being rolled out across the country. Brit Award winners Florence and The Machine and Adeleas well as Bat For Lashesand Juliette Lewis have played in local libraries since Get it Loud was launched in 2005.
The initiative aims to get young people (14 to 25) - who are the lowest users of libraries - through the doors via their love of music. Stewart explained: "The aim is to present the best of pop culture and new music in the traditional library setting, months before many of the acts break through, and also allow young people a great, often ‘first time’ in a library."
Paul MacDermott, Audience Development Manager for Warwickshire Libraries was extremely grateful for Stewart’s help and support in the run-up to Tuesday’s ‘gig’. Paul said: "This has been an amazing experience for us. What a brilliant gig and fantastic evening we had. Everything was just superb.
“Plan B got our young Saturday assistants on stage to say thanks for looking after them, and posed with library staff for photos afterwards. He promoted libraries on stage, asking how many of the audience had been there before and reminding people to get a library card - and get reading."