Author, Tom Palmer, visits Twickenham

Ahead of the author, Tom Palmer, visiting us at Twickenham Library at 2.00pm on Monday, 10 August, we are lucky enough to have him write a piece for our blog which covers who he is, what he does and why he often gets mixed up with a rugby player of the same name.

Hello. I’m Tom Palmer. I’d like to invite you to join me at Twickenham Library on 10th August.

There are lots of Tom Palmers. There’s  a superhero comic book illustrator, a murderer, a professional cyclist and a country and western singer. There’s also a rugby player who used to play for England. He’s the one I get mistaken for most. Not because I look remotely like him, but because I write books about rugby. (As well as football.)

People often arrive at my events and look disappointed because I am not another Tom Palmer. But they usually stay and have a decent time. Not because of who I am, but because of what we do.

What we do is the Rugby Reading Game.

The Rugby Reading Game is a game of two halves. The first half is a quiz about things you can read in the library (or anywhere). Not a hard quiz. The second half is a rugby penalty kicking competition. In the library. The winner gets a trophy. To keep.

That’s what I’d like to invite you to.

I didn’t like reading when I was young. But I loved sport. My mum got me visiting the library to find me things to read about sport. I came to love the library. And all the books in it, not just the sport books. I was changed from a book disliker in to a book lover. And a library lover. That’s why I host my games in libraries.

Everyone is very welcome to come along and take part in the Rugby Reading Game. Including people not interested in rugby. Or reading. Groups of friends can come as a team. Family teams too. Individuals. Even England internationals who might be kicking their heels around Twickenham. Even any Tom Palmers other than me.

So please join us.

You can join us for the Rugby Reading Game on Monday 10th August at 2 p.m. at Twickenham Library. Free event but booking essential on www.richmond.gov.uk/libraries or in one of our libraries

I’ll be hanging around after the event to talk to anyone who wants to about writing and reading. There may also be a coach from the RFU there to talk to you about playing rugby. There will definitely be rugby balls and other things to give away. Possibly tee-shirts. Certainly rugby player cards. And you can borrow – or buy – books on the day too. But you don’t have to.

Thanks to Richmond Libraries for hosting the Rugby Reading Game. Thanks to England Rugby for funding it. And thanks to you for reading this blog.

You can book tickets for this event by visiting: http://www2.richmond.gov.uk/Richmondbookings/default.aspx

And to find out more about this Tom Palmer please visit: www.tompalmer.co.uk

[ by Jonas Herriot, Customer Service Manager ]