We have some very exciting news to share with you. Today we are thrilled to announce the appointment of our two new Morrab Library patrons: the actress, comedian and writer Dawn French and writer Philip Marsden. The pair will be positive ambassadors for our library going forward, helping to promote our work and support Morrab Library’s role in the community.
Chair and Honorary Librarian Harry Spry-Leverton shared his thoughts on this new appointment:
“I am delighted to welcome Philip Marsden and Dawn French as Patrons of the Morrab Library and to wish them well as they jointly follow in the footsteps of our former Patron, the masterly John Le Carré. Together with Lord St Levan and Michael Grandage, our President, Dawn French and Philip Marsden will ensure we have a strong team in place to represent the Morrab Library on both a county and a national level. I know they will help to spur us on to greater things at an exciting time in our history as the only independent library in Cornwall.”
Dawn French will be the library’s first female Patron since its inception in 1818. French is best known for her forty-year career in TV comedy (Comic Strip Presents, French & Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley) and is also a best-selling author and a panto dame. French’s family come from Cornwall, she has made her permanent home here for eighteen years and is the proud Chancellor of Falmouth University.
Philip Marsden is the author of numerous books of history, fiction and nonfiction, traversing widely with stories from Ethiopia and the Middle East to the Western Islands of Scotland, and closer to his home in Cornwall. Marsden wrote enchantingly of Morrab Library in his book Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place (which is available to borrow from the library, alongside many of his other works, as well as books by Dawn French).
We wanted to share Dawn French and Philip Marsden’s glowing comments about Morrab Library with you and hope that they resonate with your experience of the library.
Dawn French:
“It is my total delight to become a Patron of the Morrab Library. If you like books, if you like history, if you like beautiful houses, if you like hidden treasures, if you like people, if you like peace, you will LOVE Morrab. In fact, if you are alive, you will love it there.”
Philip Marsden:
“I am delighted and honoured to be made Patron of the wonderful Morrab Library. For a book lover, there is no better place on earth than a library like this, with its higgledy-piggledy series of rooms crammed with books on every subject.
And for anyone who loves Cornwall, the Morrab’s archive and its local collections are an endless source of knowledge and delight. I have already spent many happy hours in the Morrab, researching, being endlessly distracted by its open shelves – and now look forward to many more. It is a tremendous asset to Penzance and to Cornwall as a whole and I look forward to helping it to continue to serve the interests of its members and the wider community.”
As members, you know that the Morrab is brought to life by its people; it is our loyal and ever-growing membership – as well its dedicated team of Volunteers, Library Staff, Trustees and Patrons – that keep our library thriving and we hope that you will join us in welcoming our new Patrons to the Morrab Library.