Museums care for artefacts dating back hundreds and thousands of years (and beyond), but our work is rooted in the present day. We conserve objects and archives to record the memories of the past—how people lived, the communities they formed, the environments they occupied, the animals and plants they were familiar with, the natural resources they exploited, and the tools and technologies that sustained them—and share this knowledge with our audiences. And from starry-eyed children taking part in our schools sessions to veteran researchers, people use our resources to enrich their daily lives in myriad creative ways.
Our Green Stories is a campaign by Museums Partnership Reading (Reading Museum and The Museum of English Rural Life) exploring stories of the natural world that surrounds us and sharing information about how we can all care for the planet to build a more sustainable future. We also hosted Luke Jerram's Gaia, featuring high-resolution NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, at Reading Town Hall for Reading Climate Festival 2023. While during 2024 Arctic Mirage is exploring the impact of the climate emergency on geopolitical, environmental and social change in Greenland through the work of Reading-based artist Julian Grater.
Our Green Stories: sustainability in our community
How do animals survive the winter?
Leafing through Reading: identifying the trees of our town
Wild about Reading: wildlife across our town
Flooding history in the Thames Valley
Our Green Stories: fast fashion
