On Tuesday 15^th July, the newly refurbished Exeter Central Library was officially ‘launched’ with a celebration event at which La La had been invited to sing. We had been told there would be a special VIP guest attending, but the identity of the guest was kept a secret right up until the last minute.

We started by singing a few songs for the assembled local Councillors and other dignitaries on the balcony above Northernhay Gardens in blazing sunshine! We then headed down to the main library (which was still open to the public) and strategically placed ourselves amongst the bookshelves. As soon as we were given the nod that the VIP had arrived, we prepared ourselves to start singing ‘Lovely Day’, the Bill Withers classic. As we started to sing, the VIP came into sight and it was none other than Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall! As patron of the BookTrust and First Story, which help to promote literacy in young people, she was a very fitting (and indeed Very Important!) guest and was very gracious with her time stopping and talking to various people along the way.

At the end of her visit, she went into the Children’s Library to spend some time with some of the invited youngsters and children’s book illustrator, Sarah McIntyre, who entertained the children with stories and songs. On the way, though, she stopped to talk to a few of us to tell us how much she enjoyed the singing and to ask Sam all about La La! Maybe we could persuade her to join in next time!