JULY NEWS
We had a fantastic Summer Fayre in June 2109 which helped to raise funds to go towards the running costs of the Community Library. Many thanks to all the volunteers, visitors and local businesses who made it such a success! See photos below!
Coming up in July. The last LITTLE BOOKWORMS session this term is on Thursday 4th July (11.15am to 11.45am). Pop in for preschool and baby stories and songs!
Look out for our library stall at the Littlethorpe Gala on July 27th! Come and say ‘hello’!
Well done to Jess and Karina, our two ‘Gold Prize’ winners from the school space art competition. Your entries were ‘out of this world’!
INTRODUCING OUR NEW ‘FRIENDS OF NARBOROUGH LIBRARY’ SCHEME!
Thanks to the hard work of some of our volunteers, we will shortly be launching our new ‘Friends of Narborough Library’ scheme. This is a membership scheme for individuals to support the ongoing costs of the library with a yearly donation (minimum £10 per year, larger donations gratefully received!). This will help us to pay our yearly running costs (electricity, water, insurance, etc) of approximately £5000-£6000. Hopefully this will provide a regular income for the future to ensure the future sustainability of out lovely little library!
As a ‘friend’ participants will get a regular newsletter keeping them informed of the library progress and invitations to our social and fundraising events. In addition, all ‘friends’ will go into a twice yearly prize draw for a small prize (bottle of wine, chocolates, etc). It is a great way for members of the wider community to show support for the library and we hope it will be a success.
The scheme will start on 6th April 2019 and membership runs until 5th April each year. Tax payers can agree for us to claim ‘gift aid’ from the Government if they wish which increases the donation by 25%
Application forms will be available from the library from Monday 1st April so pop in and pick one up if you are interested!
This is an exciting new opportunity for the library and we hope that many people will want to support us and become a ‘friend’!
UPDATE: The defibrillator training course is now FULL. Please give the library your contact details if you would like to be advised about further training events.
March 2019
Our March Quiz Night has now sold out! Please give us your contact details if you would like to be informed in advance of future quiz nights or to go on the reserve list.
New Crafting Club starting on March 15th called ‘BUSY HANDS’! Do you enjoy knitting, sewing, crochet, papercraft, etc? Do you enjoy socialising with like minded people? Please come along and share your skills or learn some new ones. Bring your own work or some materials can be supplied. Every 1st and 3rd Friday, 1-3pm. Hot drink and biscuit provided.
February 2019
Don’t forget that you can still nominate us as your chosen charity if you are a member of the blue Co-Op! This will help us to get a percentage of sales to go towards our running costs. Thank you! See below
Coming up in February… we have our half term Children’s Craft afternoon on Tuesday February 19th , 2-4pm. Paper based craft with a Chinese Year of the Pig theme! Suitable for ages 4-12; adult to accompany please. £2 per child and this includes all materials, juice and biscuits.
Looking ahead, on Friday March 22nd we will have another of our popular Quiz Evenings in Littlethorpe Village Hall, Biddle Road , Littlethorpe. 7pm start. Tickets are £5 per person and this includes a Ploughman’s Supper and Cake! Teams of up to six. Bring your own drinks (teas and coffees will be available for a small additional cost). This is a very popular event and tickets sell fast! Tickets on sale from the library from mid February.
January 2019 News
Little Bookworms restarts in the January Term 2019. Mondays (2.15 to 2.45pm) and Thursdays (11.15-11.45am). Suitable for pre-schoolers and babies. Come and enjoy stories and songs with our Little Bookworm volunteer and meet other parents!Mondays: JANUARY 14th, FEBRUARY 11th, MARCH 11th, APRIL 8th
Thursdays: JANUARY 24th, FEBRUARY 28th, MARCH 28th
VOLUNTEER SOCIAL
We are holding another library volunteer’s social event on January 18th at The Plough in Littlethorpe (7pm). This is a fun skittles and supper event which is open to all volunteers, partners and friends of the library.
You have a menu choice of chicken, or faggots, or sausages, or vegetarian (please let us know when you buy your ticket from the library). All meals include chips and mushy peas.
We will split everyone into teams on the night so that everyone is included. It’s a lovely way to meet the other volunteers and have a fun evening. Tickets are on sale now from the library (numbers are limited) so get one before they all go!
TEA AND TEACH
The next session is Wednesday 9th January (10am to 12pm) in the library. £2. This is a great way to learn how to use the technology you have (laptop, mobile phone, tablet, etc).
Booking is required as numbers are limited so that everyone can get individual help. Please put your name and number on the list in the library and the tea and teach team will contact you to confirm available spaces and dates.
BLUE CO-OP
If you shop at any of the local blue Co-ops (e.g. the one next to the Dicken in Whetstone, not the yellow one in Narborough) then please consider nominating us online as your community charity. See https://membership.coop.co.uk.
We are one of three local causes who will benefit from a percentage of sales when swiping your blue members card. This scheme runs for a whole year and will hopefully bring us some funds for running costs.
Christmas 2018 Opening Hours at the Library:
Saturday 22nd CLOSED, Monday 24th CLOSED, Wednesday 26th CLOSED, Thursday 27th OPEN 10am to 12pm, Saturday 29th OPEN 10am to 1pm, Monday 31st December CLOSED, New Year’s Eve CLOSED, Wednesday 2nd January 2pm to 5pm, thereafter as normal.
A reminder that books can be returned anytime by putting them through the library ‘book drop’ (letter box) next to the front door. You can also renew books online anytime by visiting http://www.leics.gov.uk/libraries
During library opening hours (see above) you can telephone to renew books on 0116 305 3706. Books issued over the Christmas holiday period will not need to be returned/renewed until January 2nd 2019.
December 2018 news:
The Christmas Gifts and Crafts Fayre on December 1st was a great success and together with the winter raffle raised approximately £750 towards library running costs! A big thank you to all our volunteers who made craft items and helped on the day. All raffle winners have now been notified and a full list of winners and prizes is in the library.
Our next volunteer social event is ‘skittles and supper’ at The Plough in Littlethorpe on January 18th. Open to all volunteers, friends and supporters. Tickets are £8 per person (this is a non profit event, ticket price is for the supper) and you will need to book in the library to confirm your menu choice (either Faggots, Sausages, Chicken or Vegetarian; all meals come with chips and mushy peas).
Little Bookworms restarts in the January Term. Mondays (2.15 to 2.45pm) and Thursdays (11.15-11.45am).
Mondays: JANUARY 14th, FEBRUARY 11th, MARCH 11th, APRIL 8th
Thursdays: JANUARY 24th, FEBRUARY 28th, MARCH 28th.
See below our lovely Christmas trees designed and created by library volunteers and the Hob Nobs club.
WISHING ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS AND FRIENDS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY 2019. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE PAST YEAR!
November 2018 news:
Don’t forget that we have a Christmas Gifts and Crafts Fayre in the library coming up on December 1st, 1.30pm to 3.30pm. There will be lots of unusual handmade gifts for sale and we will also be drawing the winter raffle at 3pm.
Your last chance to see the WW1 commemoration display in the Community Library on Wednesday 14th November 2pm to 7pm.
Don’t forget our winter raffle; tickets now available!
Our new Children’s book boxes have arrived!
October 2018 News and Events
On Tuesday October 9th we are celebrating our second anniversary as a Community Managed Library with tea and cake in the library (2-4pm). Do pop in and join us and see all the changes in the library!
Tuesday October 16th is our children’s craft event (see poster below).
Friday October 26th is our fun QUIZ NIGHT in Littlethorpe Village Hall (7pm). Tickets are now on sale from the library. £5 per person, includes Ploughman’s Supper and Cake. Bring your own drinks. Teams of up to six. NOW SOLD OUT! (next event in the Spring).
Tickets are also on sale for our WINTER RAFFLE. We have lots of lovely prizes including a food and drink hamper, beauty hampers, Dovecote or Spice 45 voucher, and many more. Tickets are £1 and the raffle will be drawn at 3pm on December 1st at our ‘Xmas Gifts and Crafts’ event in the library.
We have restarted our ‘Tea and Teach’ digital skills sessions. Please enquire in the library for dates and spaces. Usually held on a Wednesday morning (10am to 12pm; £2).
Our Little Bookworms and Hob Nobs clubs are ongoing. See our boards for dates and times. Little Bookworms continues on October 25th (11.15am), November 3rd (2.15pm), November 22nd (11.15am), and finally December 3rd (2.15pm).
September 2018 News
Our lovely new mobile shelving has arrived (see photo below) and been installed! It looks very smart and modern and more importantly, is easy to move for our clubs and events! Thank you to the Co-op for their community grant of £1000 towards the cost.
Coming up in September:
Little Bookworms restarts on Thursday 27th September (11.15am to 11.45am). Then October 1st (2.15pm), October 25th (11.15am), November 3rd (2.15pm), November 22nd (11.15am), and finally December 3rd (2.15pm).
We have a Pre-loved BOOK SALE outside the library on Saturday 8th September (10.30am to 12.30pm). Come and pick up a bargain!
The seniors ‘hob nobs’ club resumes on Friday 14th September (2pm to4pm), also on Friday 28th September.
Tickets for our popular FUN QUIZ NIGHT in Littlethorpe Village Hall, Biddle Road (on Friday 26th OCTOBER) will go on sale in September so keep an eye on our noticeboards. This is a great evening, with a Ploughman’s supper and cake included in the ticket price! (£5 per person, all proceeds go towards library running costs). You can make up a team of 6 or we can put you together in teams. Its a fun night!
August 2018 News
The Summer Reading challenge for children is going really well with several medals and certificates earned already.
We have lots of lovely new books in stock so do pop in and have a look. They can be found on the ‘new stock’ spinner or on display at the end of the shelves. If you have a particular book you are looking for then do ask us as we can check the County stock on our computer and order it in for you (a small charge applies) or request the book to be purchased for library stock.
We should be receiving our new library shelving soon (with many thanks to the Co-Op and Aviva) and this should make the library much easier to use. It will be a huge job to assemble the flat-pack shelves, sort and move the books (as we have to do this in between library sessions to avoid closing the library). Any offers of help are appreciated! They should be arriving at the beginning of September but we don’t have a confirmed date just yet.
We will be restarting our popular ‘Little Bookworms’ sessions in September. Dates and times will be displayed on our outside noticeboards.
Coming up in October we will be having another Fun Quiz Night in Littlethorpe to raise funds for the library. Tickets sell out very quickly so keep an eye out for our posters. We will also be celebrating our second year as a Community Managed Library!
July 2018 News
The third library Summer Fayre was held in June and was a great success. The weather was kind to us and we raised a fantastic £1360 to go towards the library running costs! A big thank you to all those who helped on the day.
Coming up over the summer….
The annual Summer Reading Challenge has now begun and this years’ theme is Mischief Makers. Suitable for children up to 12 it is free to register with a library card. Pop in to the library to register and pick up your ‘treasure map’ to follow the clues.
On August 7th at 2.30-3.30pm we are holding a ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ on the library rear lawn. Stories, songs and simple craft for pre-schoolers. £2 per child which includes a small picnic. Adults to accompany children please. No booking required, just turn up.
On August 21st we are holding another of our popular Children’s Craft events (2-4pm) with a ‘holiday’ theme. £2 per child (adult to accompany) which includes materials, drink and biscuits.
Our ‘Little Bookworms’ sessions will restart in September following a term time pattern. Details will be advertised in the library and on Facebook.
We have lots of new book stock in the library so do pop in to get your summer reads! Don’t forget your free library card allows you to download e-books, audio-books and magazines or comics to your phone, laptop or tablet. Great for long car journeys with kids! Pop in for information or see the Leicestershire Libraries homepage for details.
Our new ‘Volunteer Coordinator’ is KATHY ROBINSON. Pop in to see her at the library or drop a note in our letter box if you would like to volunteer with us. We also offer work experience/Duke of Edinburgh placements and you can put your name down on to our waiting list.
May 2018 News:
To all our supporters, we will shortly be contacting you to get your permission to hold the details you have provided us with in accordance with the new GDPR (Data Protection Regulations). Please reply to our email, or letter as if you do not ‘opt in’ or simply don’t reply, we are required to delete your data. This means that you will no longer receive emails about our future events or our monthly newsletter. Our full ‘privacy policy’ can be found on the ‘volunteering page’ and on the ‘About’ Page. Thanks.
Don’t forget that our SUMMER FAYRE is coming up on June 23rd at the All Saints Old School Rooms, School Lane, Narborough. 2-4.30pm. We have a live Jazz Band, face painting, book sale, crafts, children’s activities and games, plant sale, cake stall, refreshments, tombola and raffle! Lets hope we get good weather. Free Entry!
Raffle Tickets go on sale from the library, Cards ‘N’ All in Narborough or Wright Hair Salon near Tesco, Copt Oak from May 28th. Tickets are £1 and the raffle will be drawn at 4pm at the Summer Fayre on June 23rd. We have some FANTASTIC PRIZES…see the list below:
RAFFLE PRIZES
3 Month ‘Living Well’ Pass: Gym & Pool (for two adults and up to three children, worth over £300!)
Luxury Food & Drink hamper (with items from ‘The Bread Box’ Bakery, Asda and Tesco)
Sunday Lunch for two at the ‘Hilton Hotel’, Fosse Park (value approx. £34)
Afternoon tea for two at ‘Palmers Garden Centre’ (value £30)
‘Narborough Arms’ bar or food voucher (value £30)
‘Lauren Paige Hair’ in Littlethorpe gift voucher (value £25)
‘The Plough’ in Littlethorpe – Meal for two
Paintballing voucher- full day for 10 players includes all equipment (except paintballs)
‘Jade Elizabeth Hair salon’ at ‘Living Well’ (Gift voucher)
Solar garden decoration from ‘Sainsburys’
‘Miller & Carter’, Enderby (voucher)
‘The Beauty Lounge’, Littlethorpe (voucher)
‘Petals Florist’, Narborough (flower Arrangement)
‘Thurlaston Garden Centre’ (plant arrangements)
…plus many more prizes! Tickets £1. Raffle drawn on 23rd June at Fayre.
Charity Number: 1167677
April 2018 News:
NOTE THAT THERE IS NO CHILDREN’s CRAFT IN APRIL. This was an error in The Journal; many apologies! The next children’s craft will be in the summer.
Keep an eye out for our pre-loved book sale outside the library on Saturday April 14th from 10am to 12.30pm. Pick up some summer reads!
We have had lots of community activities in the library recently. Over Easter we held another popular children’s craft afternoon which was very well attended. Adults and children had great fun making woollen sheep, Easter chickens, cards, bookmarks and Easter egg hunt bags. Do look on our noticeboards outside the library for details of our summer children’s events.
We also hold regular ‘Little Bookworms’ sessions for pre-schoolers in the library during term time and this is a great way to introduce younger children to books and stories. Next dates are :
Spring/Summer 2018 Term Dates:
Mondays
2:15 to 2:45pm: 9TH APRIL, 14TH MAY, 4TH JUNE, 9TH JULY.
Thursdays
11:15 to 11:45am: 26TH APRIL, 24TH MAY, 28TH JUNE
We also hosted a very informative ‘tea and teach’ session (digital skills) which focussed on helping people avoid internet fraud and scams. These sessions are a great way to learn how to use your own technology and how to keep your data safe.
In March we held our second quiz night in Littlethorpe and again, this was well supported and great fun. Everyone enjoyed a Ploughman’s supper and cake and the questions weren’t too hard! This raised over £250 to go towards library running costs so it was a great success! We will be holding another quiz night in the Autumn, so do keep an eye out for our posters.
Looking ahead, we have our annual Summer Fayre on the afternoon of June 23rd in All Saints Church school rooms. Keep the date free as this is a great family fun event with lots of activities and stalls!
Don’t forget that we also have our seniors club every other Friday which offers games, activities, chat, tea and biscuits. It is a very friendly informal group, so do pop in the library for more information if you are interested. We also welcome volunteers (from 14+) for work experience, Duke of Edinburgh or just because you love books!
January 2018 News:
We had a quiet Christmas time in the library and are now looking forward to all out events in 2018. Coming up…
JANUARY 26th- 2-4pm is our first Hob Nobs session (Social activities, tea and biscuits for older residents). Pop in and say ‘Hello’. Its a very friendly and welcoming group! Next session February 9th (2-4pm).
FEBRUARY 5th (2.15pm to 2.45pm) Little Bookworms (stories and songs for pre-schoolers). Next session Thursday 22nd February 11.15am to 11.45am.
FEBRUARY 7th (Wednesday) 10am to 12pm ‘Tea and Teach’ digital help session. £2 donation please. Bring your own technology (laptop, phone, table, etc.) for friendly help with any technology problems. Tea and biscuits provided. Please book in the library as this is a popular event.
FEBRUARY 13th (Tuesday) we have CHILDREN’s CRAFT in the library. Starting at 2pm until 4.30pm this is a drop in session (no booking required). It’s £2 per child and that includes all materials, juice and a biscuit. Parents/carers to accompany please. Limited numbers.
MARCH 16th at Littlethorpe Village Hall (Biddle Road). FUN QUIZ NIGHT. Starting at 7pm. Tickets are £5 per person and this includes a Ploughman’s supper and cake. Bring your own drinks or teas and coffees can be purchased on the night. Teams of up to six. All proceeds go towards library running costs. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the library and go on sale on February 1st. This event is very popular and tends to sell out quickly so get your tickets ASAP!
We also look forward to welcoming every class from Greystoke Primary School for a library visit over the next few months. It is wonderful to have such a good relationship with this Primary School and we hope to help inspire a love of reading in the children!
December 2017 News:
Don’t forget to pop in to Narborough Congregational Church between 8-10th December for their annual Christmas tree festival. You should be able to spot our beautifully decorated ‘library’ tree!
The last ‘Little Bookworms’ session for 2017 will be on December 11th at 2.15pm in the library. Sessions resume on January 8th at 2.15pm, then January 25th at 11.15am. A full schedule is in the library.
The last day that the library is open before Christmas is on December 21st (10am to 1pm). The library reopens after Christmas on Wednesday 27th (2pm to 5pm). There is a reduced service till New Year. The full schedule is available in the library. Books can be renewed online or returned via the library post box.
We would like to wish all our customers, librarians and supporters a very Happy Christmas and a great 2018!
November 2017 News:
We had a fantastic half term in the library with a well supported Children’s Halloween craft day and a Quiz Evening. Both events were very popular. More coming next year!
PLEASE VOTE FOR US! (UPDATE – thank you so much as we reached 1000 votes and WILL receive an award of £1000 in 2018!
We have applied for an Aviva Community Grants award of £1000. This is a voting competition with the first 200 community groups to reach 1000 votes receiving an award. Each person gets 10 votes! The site was a bit glitchy in the first few days but it should be working fine now. Please do vote for us if you get the chance. Voting closes November 21st. You need to register your email then slide the switch to 10 votes. We are currently on about 700 votes so nearly there! Thanks. Link below or see our Facebook page.
https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-39
COMING UP IN THE LIBRARY:
‘Hob Nob’ Club – A SOCIAL CLUB FOR SENIORS AND ISOLATED INDIVIDUALS. Every 2nd and 4th FRIDAY at the library, 2-4pm. Donation of £1 appreciated to cover refreshments. Open to all. Next sessions NOVEMBER 10th and NOVEMBER 24th.
‘Tea and Teach’ Digital Skills Help– NOVEMBER 22th and DECEMBER 5th. At 10am. Please register in the library as these sessions are popular. £1.50 donation appreciated. Bring your own technology (laptop/Phone/tablet).
Family History Help– most Wednesday evenings from 6-7pm
Little Bookworms
Monday 13th November (2.15pm), Thursday 30th November (11.15am) and Monday 11th December (2.15pm).
Last Library Shift before Xmas break – Thursday 21st December. Library reopens Wednesday 27th December (first shift only). Returned books can be posted in the library post box at any time.
September/October 2017 News:
It’s been a busy time of year in the library and we are planning lots of Autumn events for the community. Coming up we have:
Saturday October 7th– It’s our FIRST ANNIVERSARY as a community run library. This is a huge achievement and has only been possible with the help and support of so many lovely people giving up time and enthusiasm. Thank you!
To celebrate we have free cake and coffee in the library starting from 11am. We also have a local author Andrew Bayliss signing copies of his popular children’s book at 12.30pm. Do pop in and join us!
Friday October 13th is HOB NOBS club (games, chat, biscuits and tea for seniors) at 2-4pm. It will also be on 27th October and 10th November.
Friday October 13th at 7pm in Littlethorpe Village Hall is our first ever QUIZ NIGHT. This will be a fun and friendly social event. The ticket price of £5 includes a Ploughman’s supper and cake. Bring your own drinks (or tea and coffee can be purchased on the night). All proceeds go towards library running costs. Ask at the library for a ticket or phone us to reserve one!
Tuesday October 17th is our HALLOWEEN KIDS CRAFT in the library at 2-4pm. It costs £2 per child but this includes materials, squash and biscuits. Parents to accompany please and spaces are limited. No booking necessary, just pop in.
Tuesday October 24th is our next ‘Tea and Teach’ session (£1.50 donation please). Booking in the library necessary. Bring along your laptop, phone or tablet etc and get friendly help with any questions or problems.
August 2017 News:
Its been a busy few months in the library. In June we held our very successful Summer Fayre and raised about £800 towards library running costs. In July we had a stall at the Littlethorpe Gala with our own ‘treasure game’ and ‘splat the rat’. We also held a book sale outside the library and a popular ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ and children’s craft session. The summer reading challenge has been quite a hit with over 70 children participating so far!
Upcoming events include:
Preloved BOOK SALE!
On Saturday 2nd September
Children’s and Adults Books
2pm-3.30pm (All Saints churchrooms playground)
In conjunction with the VILLAGE SHOW
Family History Workshop
Interested in researching your family history?
Find out how to search using library facilities and local records, etc.
Saturday September 16th, 2pm-4pm.
Friendly practical help from local genealogists! Please bring any relevant documents.
Pre-register in the library. £1.50 donation appreciated.
‘Tea and Teach’ Digital Skills Sessions
Would you like help with your laptop, tablet or mobile phone?
Want to learn how to email, or set up Skype? Do you need troubleshooting help or internet advice?
Friendly one to one expert help in your community library!
Tuesday September 19th, Tuesday October 24th, Wednesday November 22, Tuesday December 5th
All begin at 10am in the Community Library, Station Road, Narborough.
Pre-booking essential! Just pop in and register. £1.50 donation requested per session. Includes drink and biscuits!
You will need to bring your own device with you and be registered with the library to access the free Wi-Fi (bring your library membership number and PIN).
If you are not already a library member, you can join for free. Just bring identification showing your address (e.g. council tax bill) to the library.
‘Little Bookworms’ Time
(Stories and songs for pre-school age children and babies)
AUTUMN TERM DATES
Mondays (2:15 to 2:45pm)
*2nd Monday of month
September 11th
October 9th
November 13th
December 11th
Thursdays (11:15 to 11:45am) *last Thursday of month
September 28th
October 26th
November 30th
Just pop in! No library card needed! Free! (donations appreciated)
A fun, friendly session for little ones to enjoy books together
Also our ‘Hob Nobs’ Club for Seniors
April 2017 news:
Our monthly seniors social club ‘Hob Nobs’ will begin on Friday 28th April at 2-4pm in the library. Open to any residents who would like to meet new people and have fun.
Our computer help sessions ‘Tea and Teach’ begin on Tuesday May 16th at 10am in the library. Bring along your laptop, mobile, tablet or other device (and your library card number and PIN to access the free WiFi). If you don’t have a library card just bring some identification with you and we can sort you out with one straight away.
The first session will provide help with computer troubleshooting, email, Skype, Facebook as well as helping with general technology problems. A donation of £1.50 to cover costs would be appreciated. Please sign up in the library.
We now have two new Duke of Edinburgh students as volunteers and others on a waiting list. If you are under 18 and wish to volunteer with us to gain work skills and experience please pick up a U18 volunteer application form and information pack from the library.
We are looking ahead to our grand SUMMER FAYRE which is planned for June 17th (afternoon) in the Church Rooms (old School), Narborough. A planning meeting will be held in the library on April 26th at 10am. This is open to all so if you have any ideas or might want to help out with this event then do pop in.
Our next fundraising event is a BOOK SALE which will be held at the library on May 6th.
If you shop at Waitrose in Blaby during May do consider voting for Narborough and Littlethorpe Community Library with your green token as they have put us forward for Mays community donation. We will receive a proportion of the donation based on the number of tokens so do let everyone know! As you may know, we are entirely run by volunteers and funded by donations so this sort of help is vital to keep the library open.
March 2017 news:
SENIORS CLUB: We are currently planning an afternoon seniors club to begin at the end of March. It will be a fun and friendly regular event so if you are retired, a carer or feeling isolated do come along and join us for an interesting afternoon. It will probably be held Monthly on a Thursday afternoon in the library (times TBC). A variety of activities are planned including; guest speakers; ‘beetle drives’; games, etc. as well as tea or coffee and a chat! If you would like to help out or have any suggestions please contact us!
COMPUTING HELP DESK: We will be offering a series of digital technology/computing help sessions in the library beginning in April (Tuesday mornings, times TBC). This is a free ‘tea and teach’ session with helpful IT volunteers. If you have always wondered how to ‘Skype’ or ’email’ or simply how to use your laptop or mobile phone then do drop in for help. You can bring your own technology along if you wish. There will be tea and coffee available to purchase; donations to the library appreciated.
DID YOU KNOW….that the library offers free WiFi for library card holders (with your library card number and PIN). This means you can access the web from your own gadget or using the two library computers! A library card also allows you to download free magazines and books on your laptop or tablet AT HOME. Pop in and ask us how!
FAMILY HISTORY: Following the successful one-off family history event in February we can now offer help with your own family history searches in the library usually every Wednesday evening (6-7pm). Many thanks to one of our volunteers who has offered this help!
INTERESTED IN GARDENING?
We would also love to see the front garden looking more attractive. It is in the very centre of the village and could be a delight for us all! We need some volunteers to form a working party to plan for the front and then some more volunteers who might have the energy and strength to help carry it out. We have been very fortunate to have had the back garden area cleared and turfed with artificial turf by “SOWGREEN” For which we thank them very much. Contact Maggie Watkins if you would like to join this group.
SEWING GROUP:
The first meeting of the library ‘book bag’ sewing group has been held and was very enthusiastic! There is still a little more research to be done on how to print a logo on to the book bags or label them. If you are good at sewing and would like to join this group then please contact Maggie Watkins.
CAN YOU RUN A CLUB/GROUP?
The library is available for hire as a venue for activities that will benefit the community and has free WI FI. We would like to hear from people who are interested in running suitable clubs and groups. Some suggested clubs/groups from recent surveys are: book discussion, cards, scrabble, board games, debate/discussion, chess, socialising with refreshments (not alcoholic!).
DUKE OF EDINBURGH SCHEME:
We are pleased to announce that we will be taking on a few Duke of Edinburgh students beginning in April as volunteers. This is a popular volunteering and personal development scheme for young people and we are very keen to offer places to local schoolchildren. If you know of any students who would like this opportunity please ask them to complete a volunteer application form (available in the library) and mark it as ‘under 18’. This is likely to be popular so we will be holding a waiting list.
SUCCESS STORIES!
Our new member numbers continue to rise, up 57% in December 2016 against December 2015.
EASTER CRAFT:
After the success of the half term Valentines craft session for children (over 30 people!) we are planning an Easter themed craft session in April. Dates will be advertised shortly.
EASTER CHICKS!
You may have noticed that we have ‘hatched’ a few fluffy Easter chicks in the library! A huge THANK YOU to our volunteer who has knitted these Easter Chicks for sale in the library. They are absolutely wonderful and will be very popular with the children. Each one contains a surprise chocolate egg and are reasonably priced at £1. All proceeds will go to the running costs of the library!
NEW TRUSTEE:
A warm welcome to our new independent trustee, Mr Ingrams, who joins the existing library trustee team. We appreciate his interest in the library and hope to benefit from his wide experience of the voluntary sector.
February 2017 news:
We had a very successful Children’s craft session with a Valentines theme over the half term holiday with over 30 people attending. Many thanks to all those who helped on the day with the event and the children’s book sale. More children’s craft events are planned for the Easter break. Watch this space!
We also held a lovely Tea and Cake afternoon social event at The Dovecote, Narborough for our library volunteers and friends. There was a fantastic choice of cake and the tea was plentiful! A great time was had by all.
January 2017 news:
The library opening hours are back to normal following the Christmas break. Our ‘Little Bookworms’ sessions are also back up and running on Mondays (2:15-2:45) and Thursdays (11:15 – 11:45) in term time.
We will be having a ‘Volunteer Feedback’ session in the library on the 17th January so that we can get ideas on how to improve our library services. This will also give our volunteers an opportunity to raise any training or management issues. Full details will be emailed to all our volunteers shortly. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with us then visit our ‘volunteers’ page below for contact details.
We have a FAMILY HISTORY WORKSHOP planned in the library for Saturday February 4th between 1:30-4pm. This is a FREE event and requires no booking; just pop in. The session will give you help on starting your family history research and show you how to access the online genealogy resources from the library. This should be a fun and friendly event, so do come and find out about your family tree!
We are still keen to recruit more library volunteers, so if you would like to help us run the library do please get in touch for further information (or see the ‘volunteers’ page).
