The Amelia Scott has been invited by the British Library to take centre stage at an upcoming national webinar – and it all began with an adventure.
After a visit to The Amelia Scott, British Library staff have requested a formal briefing of it's inspiring and innovative Dungeons & Dragons programme for their Living Knowledge Network series – a collaboration between public libraries, the British Library, and national partners that highlights the very best ideas shaping the future of library services. The briefing will present ideas pioneered in Tunbridge Wells to libraries across the UK and beyond.
For years, Dungeons & Dragons has been a beloved game enjoyed in libraries around the world. But The Amelia Scott, has gone a step further. Working with young people, academic partners, and wellbeing specialists, The Amelia Scott has developed a structured D&D offer that uses the power of storytelling, imagination, and cooperative play to support confidence, connection, and mental wellbeing. Its work has helped demonstrate something people have believed for a long time: libraries aren’t just places for books – they’re places for people.
A spokesperson for The British Library said;
"We were lucky enough to meet Daniel Huckfield, Creative Health Projects Officer, on a recent visit to The Amelia Scott. The innovative D&D programme has been developed specifically to support mental health and wellbeing, carefully designed to be self-sustaining over the long-term. We know through LKN’s work on the Fantasy exhibition and events season in 2023-2024 that regular D&D groups are popular in public libraries across the country.
We saw an opportunity here to share good practice more broadly, especially in linking health & wellbeing outcomes to programmes that are already embedded withing many library services. Through a stroke of good luck, the webinar will see the soft launch of the Amelia’s new D&D toolkit for cultural spaces."
The upcoming webinar will explore this journey:
- How a classic tabletop game became a meaningful wellbeing intervention
- What was learned along the way – the challenges, surprises, and successes
- Practical guidance for other libraries wanting to run their own programme
During the event The Amelia team will also be officially launching The Amelia Scott D&D Toolkit – a resource designed to help library teams everywhere replicate, adapt, and build on what has been created here in Tunbridge Wells.
The British Library’s Living Knowledge Network webinar will be held 10–11am on 7 May 2026. The session will be recorded and available afterwards through the LKN website for all to access.