reading

23 October 2026, Friday

03:44 Culture Independent bookshop opens in a former bank on Ropewalk Lane, vault and all Two former librarians have turned a 1920s bank into a bookshop, with children's books in the old strongroom and a reading table where the counter used to be. Ana Sousa

22 October 2026, Thursday

03:36 Culture Central Library reopens after renovation with a late-night reading room After eighteen months behind scaffolding, the Central Library on Old Quay is open again, with a repaired roof, a digitised harbour archive and a reading room that stays open until midnight. Isabel Duarte

18 October 2026, Sunday

23:14 10 photosCulture For bookworms: frames from shelves that overflow Books piled to the ceiling, leather bindings and old editions with yellowing pages. Marcus Feld

16 October 2026, Friday

23:14 10 photosCulture The world's libraries: domes, shelves and silence From Paris to Dublin, Melbourne to Adelaide, the architecture of reading rooms. Elena Sokolova

14 October 2026, Wednesday

11:26 Culture In defence of reading slowly In an age of speed and summaries, losing yourself unhurriedly in a book has become a rarer and more precious experience. Margaret Ellison