An informed discussion, featuring a panel of professionals, will explore mortality at a special event being held at Yeovil Library on Saturday 18 November between 2pm and 3.30pm.

The panel of invited guest speakers will discuss the biggest of big questions: Why do we die? Is there anything afterwards? Can I face my own death well? How do I find hope? This will be followed by an extended Q&A with the audience.

The panel will comprise professionals who deal with or think about death as part of their work. Those taking part so far are: a chaplain, a funeral director, a mythologist, a Hospice care professional. The discussion will be moderated by a philosopher.

The guests have been chosen from a range of experiences and perspectives and a lively discussion is in store. Booking for the event is essential by emailing yeolib@somerset.gov.uk

The Death Positive Library Service:

Back in 2018, Redbridge, Kirklees and Newcastle library services, and a team of academics from the University of Northumbria came together to form what would become known as The Death Positive Library. A national framework focused on bringing conversations about death, dying and grief out in to the open through a series of events and activities in library settings.

Four Somerset libraries have full Death Positive Library book collections and titles from these collections can be reserved to be collected from any library in the county. The service also hold events like this which anyone from any background is welcome to attend.

So why is a library service talking about death?  It’s talking about death, because 80% of adults* find it a difficult subject to broach. Not being able to talk about something which is inevitable for all of us, can prevent us from not only having the death and funeral we want, but it can also stop people from getting adequate support when they really need it.

Library service spaces are already safe and accessible to a wide range of people across communities. The initiative can help to break down some of those barriers and help to make death and grief less taboo to talk about with the help of books, events and support groups.

*Libraries Connected