Derby Museums

Rooted in Words Book Club and Climate Café 

Rooted in Words is a book club centred around sustainability, climate change and climate justice, enabling us to grow our learning and make a difference. Every other month, we'll read a book with a different view on green narratives- these sessions will be a meeting point to discuss thoughts in a relaxed and kind environment. The session will also act as a climate café, opening room for a judgement free discussion around sustainability in our day to day lives, and within our Museum environment. 

Join us for discussion, to listen and/or for hot drinks and cake in our Museum and Art Gallery café. No need to participate, all are welcome to come along and listen without pressure of joining in. Rooted in Words will take place on the first Wednesday of every other month at 2pm- check the schedule for exact dates and to sign up. 

Check below for the reading list month by month, should you like to join our reading journey! 

May club- Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie

We are bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won't be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, that we should reconsider having children.

But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. The data shows we've made so much progress on these problems, and so fast, that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in history.

(click here for Waterstones link)

(click here for Kindle link)

(click here for spotify audiobook)

July club- Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenesat the World's Natural History Museums by Jack Ashby

Zoologist Jack Ashby spends his life working in Britain's natural history museums, and in Nature's Memory he guides us through a series of extraordinary collections, from marvellous mounted whale skeletons and impossibly tiny insect cabinets to buried treasures in vast museum storehouses.

But look more closely at these displays: all is not as it seems. While most exhibits succeed in communicating feelings of wonder and awe - Ashby argues that the version of nature natural history museums present does not always reflect reality, with specimens revealing more about the biases of curators than they do about the species they represent. Ashby contends that these issues are precisely why it's such an exciting time to be a natural historian, for while society shapes museums, so too can museums shape society - for the good. And as we face the existential threat of cataclysmic biodiversity loss, natural history museums will emerge as indispensable resources in the fight against climate catastrophe. 

Waterstones to release paperback copy in April

(click here for Kindle link)