Carol Pemberton
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![Carol Pemberton photograph.](/images/Carol_Pemberton.jpg")
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Carol Pemberton
Carol Pemberton started her library journey as a child to develop her lifelong love of reading. As one of ten children, Carol’s books often came from jumble sales meaning there would often be pages missing, affecting her enjoyment of the stories. Therefore, Carol’s library usage as a child gave her a chance to not only read books in their entirety, but to enjoy some peace and quiet!
Later in life Carol diversified her usage of the library to indulge in her passion for music, and often used the music library to listen to rare LPs of key singers she was influenced by.
23 years ago, Carol founded Black Voices, a vocal harmony group which draws on the oral tradition of Africa, exploring themes of black history. This has frequently led Carol into Birmingham Libraries’ archive and heritage department, with the comprehensive collections related to black history, including local information to help chart her parents’ generation, helping Carol to shape and inspire Black Voices’ programmes.
Carol’s work with Black Voices takes her to various venues across the country, and she said of the Library of Birmingham: “I’ve performed at many libraries around the country doing workshops with Black Voices. What I’m looking forward to most about the Library of Birmingham is the performance space, which I think will be a great attraction. It’s an exciting design.”
Carol was awarded an MBE in the 2014 New Year's Honours List for her services to music.Read about the Faces of the Library of Birmingham