On 22 August 2025, the fourth Library and Archives Discovery Day welcomed 846 visitors to the V&A. Four enthusiastic members of V&A Youth Collective joined the library and archives team to co-produce this event.
The collaboration between the Youth Collective programme and V&A Research Institute, National Art Library and Archives (VARINALA) began in February when current members and alumni visited the National Art Library to learn about libraries in museums and explore creative careers. Following this, we did a call-out to Youth Collective members asking them to do a ‘takeover’ of the next Discovery Day, producing their own creative event.
In planning and developing the Discovery Day over the last two months, Youth Collective members Anushka Nerlekar, Antonis Kentonis, Kristen Kelly-Green and Maya Barter researched and discussed an idea for a hands-on workshop with the V&A’s Young People team: Virginia Gallego, Learning Coordinator, and Alistair Foylan, Producer, and VARINALA team: Victoria Worsfold, Senior Librarian and me, Amber Kim, as the Research Events and Communications Coordinator.
We discussed what might appeal to an audience aged 18-24 and how we could make the event feel more inclusive and accessible. Discussions were filled with curiosity and creativity. Our ideas started with an interest in ‘unexpected things’ in the library. It turns out that the library holds many ‘non-book’ objects such as etchings, adverts, lithographs, comics and zines. We were intrigued by the design and creation of books and investigated what traditional vs non-traditional craftsmanship looks like. Based on this, we chose four themes for a table display: Chapbooks to Zines, Artists’ Books, Illustrations and Bindings.
The art and craft of book making was something we wanted to explore further in the hands-on workshop. We saw bookbinding as an art form, a form of expression, and a technique to learn and further appreciate. This is more important and relevant at a time when technology that enables immediate satisfaction often overshadows the slow-making practice. It was an opportunity to invite young people to appreciate the mindful process of book making.
We considered all aspects of the workshop – whether it should be guided or self-guided, how long it should take to complete the work for someone who has never stitched before, and how under-16s could participate in other types of activities that didn’t involve needles.
After a practice run with our V&A colleagues, the young producers assigned themselves roles and responsibilities to help participants start and complete each stage of making – demonstration, making holes in the paper, embroidery and stamping.
On the day of the event, we invited visitors to take a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship of books and archives that had been in the National Art Library since the 19th Century. The reading room and the centre room were filled with visitors of all ages – families and young people – for an intergenerational experience of the spaces and objects. We opened the back entrance of the library, facing the ‘Design 1900 – Now gallery’, which is normally closed, to allow step-free access.
As well as the workshop, there were display tables with objects curated by librarians and archivists. Anushka, Antonis, Kristen and Maya highlighted their favourites from each table – objects that they thought visitors would appreciate the most, and that included elements of art, craft, humour and interactivity. This included Aunt Sallie’s Lament (2004) by author Margaret Kaufman and book designer Claire Van Vliet from the Artists Books themed table, and A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden (1899) by Walter Crane from the Illustration theme.
The workshop proved popular and all three bookbinding sessions completely booked up! All attendees produced their own notebooks, hand bound with a special stamp on them. The activity received positive feedback from the attendees who found it “easy to follow and friendly” and “very engaging” in a “lovely, inspiring space”, while they were able to “learn something new” as “bookbinding was informative and fun to learn”. Some visitors responded that they enjoyed “learning how accessible the library is to the general public. I had assumed it was private access”. They believed that “the range of content offered an interesting experience” and would like to have “more hands-on opportunities” in the future.
The Youth Collective members very much enjoyed facilitating the workshop, gaining confidence and control as they proceeded to help attendees with different levels of skills – they even wished they had programmed a fourth session! Maya decided that she wants to become a workshop facilitator. The group also learned new things themselves – for example, Kristen learned how to run an adult workshop having been more used to primary school children. They also inspired other creatives to do something similar with their own practice.
What made this day so special was that, whether attendees were first-time visitors, active library users or researchers, everyone learned that the library collections and archives at the V&A are free public resources and the workshop warmly invited them to connect with these spaces. We hope to continue reaching out to more people and create a sense of community where anyone feels welcome to join.
It’s so lovely to read about the careful considerations and thought processes behind the development of such a fun and intriguing event, and what a delight to see how the process itself has shaped each young and passionate individual on their own paths.
I remember finding the wide range of participatory activities both amusing and insightful — the tour of the library archives felt like a secret treasure hunt, the librarian’s introductory talk shed light on the original purpose and history of the library, and the bookbinding workshop, echoing the curation of the displayed objects, served as a fun way of understanding and appreciating the anatomy of a book.
All in all, it was such an enjoyable day that made me want to keep revisiting both the memory and the library again and again. Big thanks to the amazing team for such a one-of-a-kind experience!