About the E to E project
From 2020 to 2023, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council collaborated on a £1.7 million plan to revive the city’s almost-forgotten Birmingham Shakespeare Memorial Library.
Housed in the iconic Library of Birmingham, it was the first great Shakespeare library in the world and one which, from the very beginning, has belonged to the people of our city.
The Everything to Everybody project united this Shakespeare archive with the George Dawson Collection, which is also held at LoB.
This neglected treasure-trove documents the career of the radical preacher, lecturer and activist, who founded the Shakespeare Library as part of a pioneering ‘Civic Gospel’ in 19th Century Birmingham.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the Everything to Everybody project funding to open access to the collections and deliver an exciting programme of engaging events for people and communities across the city. The project was also generously supported by History West Midlands.
In March 2022, the project joined with The Rep and the Royal Shakespeare Company to create Shakespeare’s Coming Home, a film featuring a community cast of all ages, that celebrates Birmingham’s uniquely democratic Shakespeare heritage.
The film includes special guest appearances Adrian Lester and Frank Skinner.
Watch Shakespeare's Coming Home:
To switch on subtitles for the videos, move your cursor (pointer) to the bottom of the video screen, and click the subtitles/closed captions icon when it appears.
Watch more videos from the E to E project
Learn more about the Shakespeare Collection
Page last updated: 7 November 2023
